


Kuroo Tetsurou | Not In Love

by LiteralTrashFor_Everything



Series: Not In Love [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Awkward Romance, Bathtubs, Birthday Fluff, Cheesy, Cuddling & Snuggling, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gaming, Happy Ending, Hot Chocolate, House Party, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Insecurity, Jealous Kuroo Tetsurou, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Kozume Kenma is a Little Shit, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Mess, Kuroo is my comfort character, Nekoma, Original Character(s), Reader-Insert, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Rumors, Slow Burn, Truth or Dare, Volleyball Dorks & Nerds, but we love it, soft angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:21:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27413404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiteralTrashFor_Everything/pseuds/LiteralTrashFor_Everything
Summary: Kuroo Tetsurou was a foreign object to you, always at the top while you stayed at the bottom, always looking up.  You admired him for many things, and for far too long you let your feelings be pushed away just to avoid heartbreak.  Kuroo Tetsurou was untouchable.  He was the volleyball captain who slept with girls, partied, and would become a professional middle blocker in his future. . . . wasn't he. . ?...Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x gamer!fem!readerGenre: Fluff||Started - November 6, 2020||Completed - November 28, 2020||
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma, Kuroo Tetsurou/Reader
Series: Not In Love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028967
Comments: 59
Kudos: 280





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x gamer!fem!reader
> 
> Word Count: 3,294
> 
> Genre: Fluff
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of underage drinking
> 
> A/n: This might actually be the cutest thing I’ve ever written, and I really hope you guys imagine it the same as I did when I was writing it. Kuroo is always depicted as the fuckboy type but I wanted to give him that nerdy, innocent personality too. I will admit, however, that I do imagine him to be the type of guy to fool around with girls a lot, so I did put a little bit of that in there. Still, please let me know what you guys think and if you want a part 2! Going to be writing more Haikyuu! so stay tuned!

For the last three years, you’d been convincing yourself that your crush on the middle blocker was nothing more than a passing through of childish feelings. You’d met him on your first year of high school, seeing him sitting in the far-left corner of the classroom and reading through his chemistry textbook. At the time, he was still a skinny first-year with a habit of practicing volleyball in the outside basketball court before trying out for the club.

Kuroo was still fairly quiet, usually keeping to himself other than when the chemistry teacher asked a question. He was always the first one with his hand raised.

Even then, your heart pounded every time you passed him in the hallway.

Kuroo never noticed you. You were certain he didn’t even know your name, and you shared most of your classes with him. One time you’d even been his lab partner in chemistry, but he’d been so focused on the project that you hadn’t really exchanged pleasantries. To him, you were probably just the girl in the gaming club.

Still, even though you knew he didn’t know your name, you went to as many of his games as you possibly could. You were there through every year of high school, sitting at the front of the bleachers and watching the middle blocker through eyes of pure admiration and affection.

You’d even gone so far as to learn about volleyball so that if the scenario ever came where you could talk to Kuroo, you would be prepared.

And yet, you continued to convince yourself that no, you weren’t in love with Kuroo Tetsurou, now captain of the Nekoma boys’ volleyball team. It was easier that way. It was easier to pretend like this love of yours was just a small crush that would fade after graduation. Less heartbreak for you, at least.

So you refused, for three years, to confess your feelings for Kuroo Tetsurou. You continued going to his games, sparing glances at him in class, and attempting to do your hair and makeup nicer just _in case_ he ever looked your way. You continued doing this, even as he got his first girlfriend during second year. You did it after they broke up. You did it during the time you realized he’d started having flings, just _perhaps_ willing to be another name on his list of girls so you could have an opportunity to be with him.

But he never glanced your way.

You sat at yet another game, arms resting on the railing and looking out at the court where the boys played a practice match against Fukurodani. Your eyes stayed focused on Kuroo, who grinned proudly as he stopped one of Bokuto’s spikes. A smile twitched at the corners of your lips. You internally cheered, never having the guts to cheer out loud for him.

“Kuroo-san is so hot,” one of the girls giggled from the bleachers.

You glanced back at them.

“I can’t believe he’s going to the party tonight. I didn’t even know he went to parties,” her friend answered.

You didn’t know either, but it wasn’t like you were stalking Kuroo. You’d avoided becoming that obsessed with him. Parties were never your thing. Usually you stayed home and played games until you fell asleep. Even your friends knew this, so it came as a surprise when your close friend came bounding up to you not five minutes later with a grin on her face.

“(Y/n)-chan~!” she squealed. “We have a party to go to tonight.”

Normally you might have taken a minute to consider, but this time your response was immediate.

“Absolutely not,” you huffed, turning away from her to focus on the ongoing volleyball game.

“What?! C’mon, I got a personal invitation from the captain of the basketball team and I don’t want to show up alone!” she whined, hugging your arm and bouncing to get your attention.

You sighed.

“Aki, I always stay at home and play games on Fridays,” you looked at her, “besides, parties aren’t my thing.”

Unlike your friend, you’d never been to a party. She was significantly more popular than you, considering she was a good player on the girls’ soccer team. Aki was fit, beautiful, and super nice. She was tall, and her uniform hugged her figure well. You, on the other hand, were short and never felt like the school uniform looked very good on you. Honestly, if you hadn’t known her since you were a child, you’d have wondered how you even managed to snag her as a friend. Total opposites, but she stayed by your side.

“(Y/n), this is our last year of high school. You need to go to at least one party with me before we graduate, and you become a famous. . . uh. . . gamer?” she nodded her head as if confirming her statement.

You kept your eyes focused on Kuroo, who was now up to serve. Unlike most girls, you admired his handsome face rather than his body while he served. He’d be there, it might be your only chance to actually talk to him before he’s out of your reach for good.

You bit your bottom lip.

“What do I wear?” you asked.

Aki immediately started squealing. She squealed so loud that it even caught the attention of the volleyball players, who momentarily paused to glance at the two of you. You stiffened, eyes meeting two hazel ones that you’d swear had never looked at you before. Kuroo stared at you, brow raised and volleyball in his hand as he waited to serve.

Your face lit up bright red. You slapped your hands over Aki’s mouth, shushing her. You swore Kuroo’s eyes were now burning into your back, probably with frustration over having his serve interrupted.

Moments later, the game continued, and you couldn’t bear to look back at the court.

“Sorry, I got excited!” Aki said as she pulled your hands from her mouth. “Just wear something cute!”

Easier said than done. . .

Hours after the game and thirty-minutes before Aki was picking you up for the party, you were frantically digging through your closet for something semi-cute. And by semi-cute, it was more like you were really, _really_ hoping to find something good enough to impress Kuroo. In the end, your outfit resulted in being a long-sleeved anime t-shirt, ripped skinny jeans, and some simple but cute makeup.

You snatched up your wallet just as someone knocked on the door to your home. You called out to your parents that you were leaving, before heading out with your best friend.

“You look cute, (Y/n)!” Aki said, admiring your outfit.

You looked down at your shirt, nose scrunched up.

“I couldn’t really find anything else. . .”

“Oh, by the way, some of the guys from the volleyball team are giving us a ride! Yaku-san offered to drive after I told him we were going.”

The words “volleyball team” and “us” made your entire body stiffen before you’d even reached the car. Honestly, you were pretty sure your heart had stopped. Aki patted your back and continued pushing you toward the car. The windows were rolled down, revealing three volleyball players waiting for you two to arrive.

You wanted to puke. Kuroo was sitting in the backseat, arm dangling out the window. He wore a red button-up with he sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Just seeing him made your palms sweat. It was only made worse when Kuroo’s gaze drifted from his phone to you and Aki. You weren’t sure who he was looking at, probably Aki, but you didn’t care.

Aki, fully aware of your crush on the tall middle-blocker, opened the door and shoved you into the middle seat. You could barely breathe as Kuroo’s upper arm brushed against yours. You curled up into yourself slightly, hoping to avoid as much physical contact as possible without it being painfully obvious. Aki took the empty seat beside you, sufficiently blocking you in.

“Hey,” Kuroo spoke. “You’re (L/n)-san, right?”

Your heart was pounding in your ears. You rubbed your palms on your jeans, not looking him in the eye. He knew your name. Kuroo Tetsurou knew your name.

“Y-Yes, that’s me.”

“Awesome, Aki-chan was telling us about you on the way here!” Yaku piped up from up front, beginning to drive away from your home.

Oh, so he knew your name because of Aki. You tried to disguise your disappointment by putting on a false smile.

“I hope she said good things!”

Aki elbowed you at the comment. You squeaked, jolting away from her and closer to Kuroo. Immediately, your face was red and you were moving away from him. He didn’t react, focusing on his phone. You dared to glance at what had his attention. You were surprised to see him playing a game. More specifically, a game you often played and thoroughly enjoyed.

This was your chance. You could talk to him about games, something you were most confident in. But what should you say? You couldn’t just ask him outright what his level is, or how good he is at playing. Would it be rude to ask him how he got into the game?

“Oh, (Y/n) loves that game!” Aki piped up, blatantly staring at Kuroo’s phone screen.

Kuroo looked up at you.

“You do?” he asked.

You awkwardly fidgeted with your sleeves. “U-Um, yeah, I play it a lot.”

Kuroo shoved his screen into your face. “Have you beaten this boss? It’s literally impossible. I’ve been trying all night to get him beat.”

You stared at the boss on his screen, and it didn’t take you long to figure out what his problem was.

“That boss is really difficult. Normally you’re supposed to beat it with a party or be a fire-type mage.” you pointed to his two-handed warrior character.

Kuroo hummed in thought.

“Yeah, normally my friend plays with me but he’s probably sleeping by now,” Kuroo huffed.

You gulped, pulling out your own phone.

“I can. . . um. . . help you, if you want.” you offered, nervously.

Kuroo’s eyes lit up. He grinned when he looked at you this time. He immediately pulled up the server ID and gave it to you. You stared at his face for a moment longer, deciding that perhaps you really were in love with Kuroo Tetsurou.

You quickly averted your eyes and focused instead on joining the server. It wasn’t long before your elf character was fighting alongside his and wiping out the boss just as the vehicle reached the house.

Kuroo cheered as the boss was killed.

“Finally!” he pumped his fist. “You’re strong, damn.”

Before you knew it, Kuroo’s ID had come up on your game that he’d added you as a friend. Without having an opportunity to react, Kuroo was thanking you and getting out of the vehicle and Aki was dragging you toward the house. You squeaked, stumbling after her.

“I knew you could do it, (Y/n)!” she nudged your shoulder. “You gotta keep it up all night and he’ll be your man.”

That seemed impossible. No, it _was_ impossible. Kuroo and his friends were already inside and out of your sight.

Still, you’d take your victories where you could.

Once inside, everything was loud. There were tons of students from your school, all dancing, laughing, and having fun. You tugged your sleeves, eyes darting around. Aki was talking, but the music was way too loud for you to understand a single thing.

An hour into the party, and you’d lost your best friend to the basketball captain. Now you hovered anxiously in the far corner of the living room, cradling a cup of water with your sleeves pulled down past your knuckles despite the heat radiating through the house. You wanted to be at home. You wanted to be playing games without a single worry. You wanted to be dancing with Kuroo-

No, wait.

You took a sip of your water as an attempt to distract yourself from your intrusive thoughts, only to find that your cup was already empty. A pout formed on your lips. You stared down into the cup as if staring would suddenly make more water appear.

“Calm down there. You don’t want to burn holes into the cup,” a voice chuckled.

A voice you recognized instantly.

Kuroo reached forward, pouring some of the liquid from his own cup into yours. You hesitantly sniffed it, worried he might have given you alcohol. He only chuckled in response and leaned against the wall beside you.

“Relax, it’s water,” he stated.

You looked up at his face. He didn’t look nearly as sweaty and tired as you’d expected. He didn’t look drunk, either.

“Y-You’re not dancing?” you asked, finally finding your voice.

“Nah, parties aren’t really my thing,” he shrugged, “I just came because of Yaku.”

That sounded familiar.

“Yeah, I came for Aki,” and then before you could stop yourself, you added, “I’d much rather be at home playing video games like I usually do.”

A smirk stretched across Kuroo’s lips. He watched you immediately stutter and try to correct yourself, face lighting up bright red.

“You remind me of my friend, Kenma.” he chuckled.

“K-Kenma? He’s on the volleyball team, right?” you asked.

“Yeah, he’s our setter. Would’ve joined the gaming club if I didn’t drag him into volleyball,” Kuroo smiled. “You guys would definitely get along.”

You didn’t want to admit that you already knew Kenma. In fact, Kenma could almost be considered a friend, though only through a screen. Kenma and you often played games together, but you’d only talked to him in person a handful of times. Gaming was just easier, especially since you usually found the blonde hovering by Kuroo more often than not.

You sipped your water, eyes drifting out to the dancing mass of bodies in the living room. Somewhere amongst them was your best friend.

“Wanna dance?” Kuroo asked.

You choked on your water. Immediately you were hunched over, one hand on your knee and coughing frantically. You covered your mouth with the other hand. You hadn’t coughed for long, but it sure felt like it, especially with the smug cat standing beside you watching the whole thing with an amused smirk.

You glanced up at him, tears brimming your eyes from your previous coughing fit. Kuroo offered a hand to you. The flashing lights almost made you think the tips his ears were tinged red.

“C’mon, one dance then we’ll go hide in the bathroom and beat the next boss in the game,” he offered.

You weren’t sure what you were doing here, suddenly. You weren’t even sure why you were talking to the most attractive boy in the school, taking his hand, and following him out into the crowd of people. When you’d imagined how tonight was going to go, you imagined holding your best friend’s hair while she puked into a toilet after drinking too much. You never imagined actually dancing with the boy you’d finally decided only an hour ago that you were in love with.

Kuroo’s hands were on your waist as the two of you swayed to the beat. He was grinning. Unlike the couples around you both, your dance was completely appropriate. There was no grinding, no making out. Just a simple dance. Kuroo’s hands didn’t even stray south, staying on your waist. You stared up at his handsome face, unable to hold back the grin that spread across your face.

“We look like idiots,” you laughed.

Kuroo shrugged his shoulders.

“I always look like an idiot,” he chuckled.

You wanted to tell him that, no, he never looked like an idiot. You didn’t, though. You couldn’t expose yourself just yet, so you kept your feelings to yourself for the time being.

The song switched to a much more upbeat one, and Kuroo took that as his queue to guide you off the dancefloor once more girls had started crowding the both of you. He held your hand, and you couldn’t stop the burn that erupted through your whole face. His hand was warm and very big in yours. For a moment you really thought you were drunk and imagining this. You squeezed his hand to confirm that this was, in fact, not a dream.

Kuroo glanced back at you at the feeling of you squeezing his hand.

“You okay?” he asked.

You had a big smile on your face.

“I’m good.”

Good wasn’t the right word for how you were feeling. Ecstatic? Thrilled? Overjoyed? In love? You were pretty sure it was a mixture of all of the above, and Kuroo had no idea.

Kuroo led you two to the upstairs bathroom, which was still undisturbed by the drunk house of teenagers downstairs. He shut and locked the door with a huff, leaning his back against the wood.

“Man, it smelled so bad out there,” he laughed, running a hand through his hair.

You fidgeted, realizing how weird of a situation this was. Kuroo had just locked the both of you in a bathroom (albeit a nice bathroom and holy cow was that bathtub huge; wait, is that a jacuzzi?). Kuroo walked to the giant around tub, sitting himself down inside of it with his legs outstretched. He casually pulled out his phone.

You stood in the middle of the fancy bathroom awkwardly, unsure what to do. You didn’t think Kuroo had meant it when he said you two would go to a bathroom and play games. Now he’s sitting, fully clothed, in a giant bathtub with his phone out.

Kuroo’s eyes drifted toward you.

“C’mon,” he chuckled.

You gulped, moving to join him in the bathtub. You sat down across from him. Your legs brushed against his, making your cheeks flare. He didn’t seem to be bothered by it, only turning his phone to give you the server ID. You hurried to join.

Once the game had started, it was like all your nervousness faded away. You and him were battling bosses and laughing loudly every time the other person died. Other kids tried to get into the bathroom, only to discover the door was locked and then proceed to yell at you both through the door while you guys laughed. He’d blurt out chemistry jokes occasionally, making you snort with laughter without fail. Soon enough, you were seated beside him, shoulders brushing and your legs draped over his while showing him the mechanics of an entirely new game.

“No, you gotta shoot like this or you’ll never get enough momentum in your arrow,” you moved your hands over his, guiding his thumbs over the right position to add momentum to his attack against the low-level dragon.

You let go of his hands moments later.

“Like this?” Kuroo tried again on his own, completely failing once again.

You huffed. “Kuroo, you’re doing that on purpose,” you whined.

Kuroo smirked, turning his head toward you. Only then did you realize how close you’d gotten to the dark-haired boy. His breath fanned over your face, and his nose practically touched yours.

“Yeah, I am,” he said, voice low.

Your face was burning. You’d completely forgotten what you last said.

“W-What?”

Kuroo’s smirk stretched wider. He waved his phone in front of your face.

“Doing it on purpose. Every time I fail you grab my hands to show me what to do, so I’m purposely failing,” he hummed.

Your words suddenly seemed to be caught in the back of your throat. Your mouth was open, and the stare you gave him was almost laughable. Kuroo stared at your shocked expression. Kuroo playfully closed your mouth with his hand before moving back to the game on his phone. He was smirking, hazel eyes still focused on your stunned face which he couldn't seem to look away from.

“You’re adorable. Now please show me how to do this again.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x gamer!fem!reader
> 
> Word Count: 3,347
> 
> Genre: Fluff
> 
> Warnings: None
> 
> A/n: I don’t really know how this became a multiple part piece, but I won’t complain. I’m the worst at leaving things open-ended. I’m so glad you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. I love canon Kuroo who’s a nerdy dumbass. I’m really trying to make sure he’s not OOC, so please let me know if you think he is. I was really trying to reach into the idea of Kuroo being this idol-like person who people put on a pedestal (including his classmates), when in reality he’s just a high school boy who’s like everyone else (well, not really but you get my meaning lol). I hope you guys enjoy this and please leave feedback and constructive criticism! Let me know if you guys want more and if you want any angst!

If you had to say what you regret most, it would be that you didn’t take advantage of Kuroo’s obvious flirting. Your brain had entirely convinced you that Kuroo would never feel anything for you, so awkwardly dodging his compliments seemed like the easier option. You’d spent hours with Kuroo, playing a game with him while he babbled on about the inconsistencies of some chemistry project he’d been working on earlier that day.

All you could focus on was the way your legs were draped over his in the bathtub, and the way you could feel his hot skin through the fabric of his button-up as your shoulder brushed against his. Your cheeks were burning, so you tried to stay focused on the game in your hands.

You wished you just had the guts to tell him right now, at this exact moment, that you were in love with him.

You swallowed the lump in your throat, hands trembling. You internally came up with the words, prepared yourself for rejection, then opened your mouth to speak.

“Hey, Kuroo-“

You were immediately interrupted by loud banging on the door.

“Aye! Kuroo, you in there? We’re leaving. Have you seen (L/n)-chan?” Yaku called.

Kuroo moved your legs off him, then stood up and stretched. He then offered a hand to you with a smile. You awkwardly took it, allowing him to help you to your feet while you stared at his big hand holding onto yours.

“Yeah, we’re hiding from everyone in here.” Kuroo answered.

“The two of you?” Yaku huffed. “Hurry up and get out here. Aki is sick so we gotta get her home.”

And, thus, you spent the rest of the night with your best friend. You held the plastic bag that she used to puke in, sitting between her and Kuroo in the car. The windows were rolled down and the music was turned up loud to drown out the sounds of Aki’s retching. You held her hair back with one hand.

You felt bad for being frustrated with her. You knew full well that it wasn’t her intention to ruin your time with your crush, and you knew it wasn’t fair to be so embarrassed by this. You had almost confessed to him, and now the romantic mood had been spoiled and now he was staring out the window without a care in the world.

The boys dropped the two of you off at Aki’s house. They even offered to help you take her inside, but you quickly refused. You couldn’t bear to spend more time with Kuroo while your best friend is sick and puking in your arms.

The rest of the weekend was nothing unusual. You continued playing games with Kenma, half-hoping for a game request from Kuroo but it never came. Kuroo had once again become a very foreign object to you. That night, to him, you were simply the one normal girl at the party who he could spend time with while he escaped the loudness of it all.

Monday finally came, and you went to class with the determination of holding your head up high and actually talking to Kuroo.

Unfortunately, the moment you saw him, it was like all the energy had been sucked out of you. He sat in his desk, as usual, with his chin resting in his palm as he finished up the last few questions of his homework. His tie was loose, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He looked like he couldn’t care less about the dress code, and you admired him for it. Sadly, it enabled your fear to come back so you simply went to your desk without exchanging a single greeting with the boy you’d fallen in love with.

And you regretted it for the rest of the day.

You felt so stupid for not taking an opportunity to talk to him. It wasn’t fair to just expect him to notice you when all you did was avoid him. After speaking with him that night, you realized that he wasn’t at all who you’d planted in your head. He was kind, he was social and open. Honestly, he was a nerd with a gaming addiction that his best friend had gotten him into, no matter how bad he was at playing them.

You sulked in the corner of the classroom, glaring at your bento box in frustration at your own stupidity.

It was so easy to mistake Kuroo for being the popular, fuckboy that everyone made him out to be, especially earlier when he’d been sitting there with his sleeves rolled up and collarbone showing. Still, all he’d been doing was working on homework. It was no excuse for you to think he was what the rumors made him out to be.

You poked at a piece of chicken with your chopstick, mentally working on a plan to woo the dark-haired boy into at least becoming your friend.

“You seem super out of it today, (Y/n),” Aki waved her chopsticks in front of your face, “what’s the deal?”

You looked up from your bento and at your friend. She had a brow raised and rice sticking to the corner of her mouth. Your brow twitched in annoyance. Even now, she was so pretty. Maybe Kuroo was just talking to you to get closer to Aki. They’d make the perfect couple. They were both hot, sexy, and athletic.

“Aki, how do you always look so good? It’s not fair,” you blurted out in frustration, “you make people like me feel like shit about ourselves.”

Aki wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

“Woah, don’t even say that. You’re gorgeous, (Y/n),” she stated.

You looked away from her and out the window. You didn’t believe a word she said, and it wasn’t fair to be frustrated with her just because of your own self-consciousness. She was always there by your side, telling you how beautiful and amazing you were.

“Sorry, Aki. I didn’t mean it,” you mumbled.

Aki watched your face, seeing the faraway expression you wore. She knew something had happened between you and Kuroo, but you didn’t share. Not that you’d ever tell her this, but you knew she’d feel horribly guilty if you told her that you’d have confessed if not for her getting sick. But you didn’t, and you wouldn’t, so you stayed quiet.

For the rest of the day, you were in a sour mood. You felt mostly guilty about snapping at your best friend, even though she’d long since forgiven you and had fallen back to joking around and prancing beside you as the two of you headed out of class.

“So, you’re going to watch volleyball and wait for me to finish my practice, right?” she asked, grabbing her shoes from her locker.

You nodded your head. Normally you’d have club, but Mondays were the one day the gaming club didn’t meet up; this meant it was the day you always went to watch the boys’ volleyball practice.

“Got it, I’ll see you after practice! Oh, and you should meet me by the gates of the school instead of our usual!” she chirped.

You raised a brow.

“Why? We always meet by your clubroom door,” you questioned, immediately suspicious.

Aki’s grin gave off an aura of mischievousness, but she wouldn’t break that easily. She simply patted you on the back, before trotting off to go to practice. You watched her go, before finally admitting defeat and making your way to the gym to watch the volleyball practice.

Practice had already started by the time you arrived. You scurried to the bleachers, where some other onlookers were already seated. You took your usual spot at the far back corner and took out your homework for the day. You got to work, though that didn’t stop your eyes from straying to the middle blocker on the court. He was yelling at Lev over a failed spike. You smiled a bit.

You’d always admired Kuroo and his dedication to volleyball. He never skipped a practice, hardly slacked, and usually did his best to show his teammates what to do. It was easy to tell how he’d become captain of the team. It was equally as easy to see why he was the most popular boy in school. He was tall, and had the most muscular build of almost all of the boys at Nekoma. Even you couldn’t resist watching the way his biceps flexed as he shut down a spike.

You rested your chin in your palm, unable to tear your gaze away from him. You’d abandoned your homework, instead now focusing on learning everything about the middle blocker while he played volleyball.

Sadly, you hadn’t looked away fast enough when his eyes found yours. Your eyes widened, and you quickly snapped your head down toward the book in your lap. You heard footsteps coming your way, and your heart was pounding so loudly that you’d swear the whole gym could hear it.

The bleachers shook as Kuroo bounded up the seats, before stopping in front of you. He tilted his head, staring at your half-done homework, before he sat down in front of you.

“Yo, chibi-chan,” he waved his hand in front of your face.

You were reeling from the nickname, eyes snapping up to his. He was smirking, eyes glinting. He looked even more handsome up close, with sweat gleaning on his tan skin. Up close you could even see his muscles pressed tightly against his practice t-shirt. It only made your face burn more and you could only pray that he didn’t notice.

Thankfully, if he did, he didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t realize you liked volleyball,” he said, “do you usually come to our practices?”

You gulped. You really didn’t want to admit to him that yes, you’d been to almost all of his practices and games since second year. He’d probably think you were some creepy stalker, or he’d start questioning you on why you weren’t in the girls’ volleyball club and then you’d have to confess that you didn’t actually care about volleyball.

“I um,” you cleared your throat, “I’m just waiting for Aki to get out of soccer practice.”

Kuroo raised a brow. A look of confusion was etched across his features, like he was in on something that you had no idea about. It was gone before you’d realized it, and he was ruffling your hair as he stood up.

“Right! Well, good luck with homework. By the way, that’s the wrong formula for number 7,” he waved his hand, before bounding down the bleachers and getting back to practice before Yaku smacked him.

You blinked a few times, then looked back down at your work. Sure enough, your formula was wrong. You were grateful to him, because unintentionally (or, perhaps intentionally) he had also helped you with getting the right formula for the rest of the problems. You’d become totally oblivious to the gawking girls at the other end of the bleachers, who’d just watched your entire exchange in awe.

Soon enough, volleyball practice was coming to an end. You gathered your things, then stood up. You hopped down the bleachers and headed for the door.

“Yo, chibi-chan, wait up!”

You stiffened, letting out a small squeak at the voice calling out to you. You turned, looking at the volleyball players strolling up to you. It was Kuroo and Kenma.

“Wait for us by the door, alright? We’ll take just a sec to get changed,” Kuroo grinned, wiping sweat from his brow.

“W-Wait for you?” you stuttered.

A smug look immediately fell over Kuroo’s face. Kenma sighed, grabbing his friend’s sleeve and tugging him toward the club room.

“Just wait here,” Kenma grumbled.

Honestly, you wanted to run away. Once they disappeared, you were extremely tempted to bolt out of the gym and never look back. But, you kept your feet planted. You stood by the door, even going so far as to mutter a quiet goodbye to the other volleyball players as they left. It felt like an eternity had passed before Kuroo and Kenma were joining you, now showered and wearing their school uniforms.

You left the gym with them, utterly confused. Kuroo was scolding Kenma for immediately getting on his phone, which gave you an opportunity to realize the situation at hand. It suddenly became apparent as to why Aki had wanted to meet you by the gates, because she was already waiting there with a smug grin on her pretty face.

You stared at her, internally boiling at her audacity. You’d been _set up._ You weren’t even sure when Aki had planned this, but now you felt totally stupid because of Kuroo’s earlier confusion.

“Hey, guys!” Aki greeted.

Kuroo waved and Kenma let out a hum of greeting. You continued staring at her, bristling. Aki didn’t acknowledge it.

“So, we’re going to get some afternoon boba, right?” she asked, already starting to walk.

“Yeah, you said (Y/n)-chan likes boba,” Kenma responded.

He patted your arm and waved his phone, inviting you to join him for a match. You appreciated it, and immediately got out your phone to join him. Kuroo curiously watched the two of you.

“Did you guys already know each other?” he asked.

Kenma nodded. His fingers tapped furiously at his phone screen as the two of you worked on taking down a boss together.

“Yeah, we play games together every weekend—watch your left, (Y/n)—she’s in the gaming club, you know.” Kenma answered.

Kuroo’s eyes drifted toward you. You stared intently at your game, entirely focused and unaware of the conversation going on around you. He moved behind you, peeking over your shoulder to watch you play. He was fully aware of the fact that you were in the gaming club, especially after playing with you. Still, watching you play with Kenma, it was like your true abilities were showing. Dare he say you were doing even better than Kenma.

“Wow, you’re pretty good,” he spoke.

You squealed, torn from your trance at the feeling of his hot breath tickling the side of your neck. You fumbled with your phone, heart racing as it slipped from your fingers. Almost like a reflex, Kuroo’s arm had shot forward and caught the electronic between his thumb and index. Your cheeks burned furiously, though the blush didn’t compare to the heat of his skin against your side from where his arm had shot forward, nor the pressure of his chest against your back.

“Nice catch!” Aki cheered.

“I wish you were always that quick, Kuroo,” Kenma mumbled.

Kuroo turned to his friend with a glare. “Hey, I always have great reflexes!”

Kenma smirked slightly. “You tripped over a crack in the sidewalk on the way to school this morning and tore the sleeve of your uniform.”

Immediately, both you and Aki were looking toward the sleeves of his shirt to confirm this. Sure enough, on the cuff of his left sleeve, was a tear in the fabric. Ah, so that explains why his sleeves were rolled up when you went to class this morning.

Kuroo, who still sometimes seemed like a god in comparison to you, suddenly didn’t feel so distant.

You stared at him as the tips of his ears burned. He still held your phone in his hand, his fist now clenched around it as he argued with Kenma; something about “the sidewalk was uneven”. You began to take notice of the little things about him, like the small, barely noticeable freckle beside his left nostril, or the scar above his eyebrow which was usually hidden by his bangs.

You felt a nudge and blinked a few times. Kuroo was now staring at you, his hand outstretched to hand you the phone. You smiled and took it from him.

“Thank you for catching it,” you said.

Kuroo smiled. “Anytime.”

Kenma and Aki had already started walking, and he was already focused on his game but still spared the time to say, “not _any_ time.”

Kuroo went after him, once again protesting to Kenma’s claims about him being clumsy. You stared at their backs, silently admiring him in the new light he’d suddenly taken to. Him and Aki really were alike, and you couldn’t help but wonder what you had to offer him when she was right there. He turned after they’d gotten a few yards away from you, hazel eyes burning into your own. He smiled.

“You comin’? I’ll race you to the café.”

“Kuroo, no—” Kenma tried to protest.

“Great idea!” Aki squealed.

Your expression lit up and you laughed, chasing after your friends. You shoved the phone in your back pocket, deciding to spend a little bit more time in the real world.

Naturally, you and Kenma were the last ones to reach the café. The two of you were panting, hunched over with your hands on your knees while Aki and Kuroo seemed to be perfectly fine. You couldn’t even remember the last time you’d ran so far, let alone actually put in _effort_ when running.

Kuroo chuckled beside you, patting both yours and Kenma’s backs. You half-expected him to make a snarky comment about you guys being lazy, but it never came. He just let you both catch your breath, before walking into the boba café with you.

Aki had already ordered hers and was seated at a table. She stared at you, eyes slitted like a cats as if she was challenging you to _confess already_. You looked away from her before your staring would attract the attention of Kuroo and he’d start asking what her deal was. You were paranoid that Kenma was in on this too, so you felt like a one-man army while Kuroo was completely oblivious to any shenanigans going on.

“I’ll have the honeydew milk tea,” you ordered, before reaching into your pocket for your wallet.

When your fingers brushed over _nothing_ , your cheeks were already burning, and you were stuttering over your words. You sputtered, reaching into your other pocket in hopes it was there. Nothing. Had you dropped it? No way. Was that why Aki was giving you such a weird stare? Did she steal it? Why would she-

“I got it,” Kuroo hummed beside you, grinning, before placing his own order and paying for both yours and his drink.

“T-Thank you!” you bowed your head. “I’m so sorry.”

Kuroo laughed and waved you off. “Don’t feel bad.”

Once everyone had received their drinks, you took the seat beside Aki while Kuroo and Kenma sat across from the two of you. You cradled your drink in your hands, sipping at the sweet drink. Your eyes practically sparkled at the taste of it.

“Told you she likes boba,” Aki chuckled.

You realized they were all staring at you, and quickly put your drink down to have a free hand to smack Aki with. You glared at her.

“Stop staring!”

Aki laughed, holding her arms up to block the attack. “I’m not the only one staring!”

Your cheeks burned. You covered your face with your hands, groaning. There was no way to stop yourself from blushing, so you just chose to hide it behind your hands even though they’d all seen it. Aki laughed and excused herself to use the restroom. Kenma turned down to his game once she’d left.

You felt a light tap on your hand, and parted your fingers to peek at Kuroo. He grinned. In his hand, pinched between his pointer and thumb, was your wallet. Your eyes widened. You lowered your hands, sputtering over your words in complete confusion. You backtracked, trying to recall when he’d have had the chance to take it. The only thing that came to mind was earlier when he’d saved your phone and was practically pressed against you.

This whole time you’d thought Aki or Kenma had nabbed it.

“Snagged it from you earlier,” he hummed, “I knew you’d never let me pay for your drink if I didn’t.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x gamer!fem!reader
> 
> Word Count: 4,057
> 
> Genre: Fluff
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of sex, rumors, angst if you squint
> 
> A/n: Writer’s block hit me like a train and I blame the election. Just kidding, let’s not talk about that hah. This is unedited (due to laziness sorry). Anyway, I’m once again leaning to my comfort character Kuroo and continuing this “one-shot” that somehow turned into a slow burn. I don’t know if anyone else is enjoying it, but I am so if you’re not then I’m writing for myself XD Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it like I do. I also hope people begin to see that Kuroo’s character is more than just a “sex god”. Be expecting more Haikyuu from me soon!

Your cheeks burned furiously. You wanted to bury yourself deep in a hole to hide your embarrassment from Kuroo. He stared at you, looking overly pleased with himself as he offered your wallet to you after sneakily purchasing your drink when you thought you’d lost it (or it had been stolen by one of your friends). In the end, it had been Kuroo.

Kenma glanced up from his game and to the scene taking place. His eyes darted between you both, a brow raised.

“What did you do?” he asked, interrupting the moment.

Kuroo shoved the wallet to you and turned to his friend.

“Nothing. What game are you playing?” he leaned over Kenma’s shoulder to observe.

Kenma, still suspicious, pulled his phone away and scooted away from the rooster haired idiot. His eyes were narrowed.

“The same game I’m always playing,” he grumbled.

You stuffed your wallet back into your pocket, grateful for Kenma’s interruption. It gave your cheeks time to cool down and return to their normal shade. Your heart was beating so fast that it made your head spin. Kuroo had wanted to pay for your drink? He could have offered but. . . well, he was right. You wouldn’t have accepted the offer just out of sheer embarrassment or guilt.

Kuroo hardly knew you, but he was observant enough to figure that much out. You had no choice but to give him credit. 

Aki returned and took her place beside you. You focused on sipping your bubble tea while watching Kenma try to question his friend while Kuroo dodged the questions. The tips of his ears burned red, and you honestly would have missed it if you didn’t pay so much attention to him all the time.

“So, guys,” Aki piped up, “I actually have to go in a few minutes.”

Her gaze turned to you. She looked guilty, and her eyes said that this wasn’t a part of her plan. You gave her a smile of understanding.

“Don’t worry. I can get home fine,” you promised.

“I’m sorry, (Y/n)!” she clapped her hands together and bowed to you. “I’ll make it up to you with a homemade milk tea tomorrow morning!”

You rolled your eyes and laughed. You waved her off as she scurried to grab her things, babbling out apologies. She waved to Kuroo and Kenma, before heading out.

Once she left, you felt immensely nervous. Sure, you’d been alone with them five minutes ago when she was in the bathroom, but now you really _were_ alone with them. It wasn’t even the _them_ that was a problem. It was the fact that Kuroo, your crush for the last three years, was here and you didn’t have your best friend to lean on. 

Kuroo sipped his drink, staring at you.

“You don’t have to be so nervous,” he chuckled, “it’s just us.”

_That’s the problem._

“Oh, it’s not you!” you blurted, waving your hands, “I’m just nervous to go home alone!”

A blatant lie. You had no issue going home alone. There were plenty of nights where you’d take the train alone, then walk the few blocks from the station to your house. Aki lived a few houses down from yours, so she often just went home with you.

“We can just take you home, right, Kenma?” Kuroo turned to his friend.

You choked on your breath, looking at Kenma with pleading eyes. You _begged_ him not to take the offer, and he knew it just from the way he stared at your terrified expression. His eyes gleamed the same way they did when he was about to conduct a sneaky plan in volleyball.

“I actually have homework to finish tonight,” he stated. “And since this place is close to my house, I probably won’t have time. You should though, Kuroo.”

You wanted to smack him. You wanted to log in to the game right now and wipe out his character with brutal friendly fire until he agreed to walk you home with Kuroo or he convinced Kuroo to just leave it be and let you go home alone.

“It’s alright, I’ll be fine!” you said hurriedly.

Kuroo stared at his friend, eyes narrowed suspiciously, before he leaned back in his seat and took a gulp from his drink. His eyes focused on you.

“I don’t mind. Besides, it’s dangerous in Tokyo when it’s late,” he stated.

You knew then that there would be no escaping this. You’d run out of excuses, and honestly, you wanted nothing more than to spend more time with Kuroo. You were just so _terrified_ of him. He was so. . . well. . . you glanced at the tear in his sleeve, then at the small stain on his collar, and realized that he wasn’t perfect. He was your classmate, someone you were in love with. He was, to you, perfect and not perfect in every way.

“Alright,” you finally agreed, a smile forming on your lips, “thank you.”

Kuroo smiled too.

It wasn’t long before you and Kuroo were parting from Kenma and walking to the train station. Kuroo walked with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his pants, eyes focused up at the night sky. You followed his gaze.

“So,” Kuroo piped up, “care to tell me why Aki-chan and Kenma were being so weird?”

You could now feel his gaze burning into you and suddenly regretted agreeing to let him walk you home. You swallowed.

“I don’t know,” you lied.

_So they could set us up._

“Oya?” Kuroo hummed, smirking, “you _sure?_ ”

_No._

“Yes.” You didn’t meet his gaze.

Kuroo only chuckled. He dropped the subject, and you felt a weight lifted off your shoulders. He was smart, and way too observant for his own good. He definitely saw straight through your lie, and you knew it. Thankfully, he wasn’t curious enough to pursue an interrogation over it.

For the rest of the way was mostly abstract conversation about nothing important. Just words to fill a potentially awkward silence. Still, you enjoyed the time spent with him. You felt significantly more at ease in his presence, getting to know him little by little. While you knew a lot about him already, there were huge pieces of his life that you would never have learned without him telling it to you.

Kuroo wasn’t planning on going into professional volleyball. He wanted to go to college, get a degree, and pursue something involving volleyball but not actually being a part of a team. He lived with his grandparents and father, had an older sister who he barely knew, and used to read a lot of manga as a kid.

You told him small pieces of yourself, like the fact that you were an only child, watch a lot of anime, and enjoy spending time in the gym while the boys practice.

You’d reached your house at last and stared up at it like it was some great offense. You wished the trip hadn’t been so short, because Kuroo would be leaving now and you weren’t sure that your confidence would last by tomorrow morning when you saw him at school.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Kuroo said, turning to you with a smile, “better come say hi, chibi-chan.”

You pouted at the nickname, swatting at his bicep before you could allow yourself to be embarrassed.

“I’m not that short!” you whined.

Kuroo snickered and hunched down to your height. “You’re pretty short.”

You puffed your cheeks in a feign pout. It only amused him further. He ruffled your hair, then straightened up and started heading out to go home.

“Oh, by the way,” he turned around, walking backwards, “mine and Kenma’s houses are only a few blocks away.”

The feeling of wanting to vibe-check Kenma returned. Could he have even been more obvious earlier? It was no wonder Kuroo had been so suspicious by Kenma’s statement considering none of you lived anywhere near the café. If you doubted it earlier, you knew now that Kuroo had absolutely figured out that his friend and Aki were trying to set you two up.

You smacked your forehead, embarrassment burning across your face. His loud laugh rang out, and despite how ridiculous his laugh was, it was so extremely fitting. You peeked out from between your fingers to watch his retreating figure. Once he’d turned the corner, you went inside. 

The smile on your face didn’t go away for the rest of that night.

The next few weeks had been the best of your life. You spent a significant amount of time with Kuroo, Kenma, and Aki. Usually you’d go out for boba with them, then go home with them since you all lived fairly close. Sometimes, even, the boys would go to either yours or Aki’s place, and you’d go to theirs on occasion (usually Kenma’s). Kuroo hardly ever offered up his place, but you never asked why.

Kuroo Tetsurou had somehow become your very close friend and still your feelings for him went left unsaid. With him now as your friend, you wouldn’t dare risk ruining it.

This morning had frankly been a mess. You’d woken up with a massive headache, and shambled to the bathroom to take some medicine. You took a shower in hopes to soothe the ache in your skull. It helped temporarily, but after the warm water was dried, the ache returned.

The headache made sense once you set out for school and it was raining. Thankfully you’d grabbed your umbrella, so you made it to school with only wet shoes. Aki had morning practice on Mondays, so you didn’t get to walk with her. Exhaustion tugged at your body as you changed shoes, then headed for class.

Your headache had faded to a dull throb by the time you got to class. You hesitated by the door for a moment, wanting to greet Kuroo who would hopefully be waiting for a greeting when you entered. You readied yourself, then opened the door and went inside.

Kuroo didn’t look any better than you, frankly. His hair seemed messier than usual. He looked exhausted. His gaze moved up to you as you entered. Immediately, he lit up. Your feet were taking you to his desk before you could think.

“Morning, Kuroo,” you greeted, smiling.

“Morning, chibi-chan.”

The nickname made your smile widen. He rested his cheek in his palm, staring up at you.

“You look tired,” you commented, temporarily sitting in the desk next to his.

Kuroo yawned just as you said it. He stretched his arms, then returned his gaze to your face.

“Rain makes me sleepy,” he said, “and based on how you look, I’ll take it you’re the same way.”

When Kuroo said it, it made him seem so cat-like and mysterious. When he compared it to you, however, it just sounded like you were a weirdo. Still, you couldn’t care enough to do anything about it. Kuroo’s cat-like qualities were never-ending. Ironically, you found a lot of the same qualities in Kenma who was an opposite to his friend and couldn’t help but wonder how your pudding-headed friend was doing this morning.

“How about we go to your place after practice?” he offered, staring at your face.

It was Monday, so you’d be going to his practice per the usual. Your cheeks warmed at the offer. Usually, Aki or Kenma would come, so you suspected that by the end of the day Kuroo would invite one of them.

“Sure,” you stood up as the class bell rang, “I’ll make us hot chocolates and stuff.”

Kuroo beamed at the mention of the sweet drink, and you couldn’t help but smile upon seeing his grin. You headed to your desk. It wasn’t unusual for Kuroo to offer to hang out anymore. As much as you wished Kuroo was something more than a friend, you were equally as content with your relationship with him. He was a really good friend, and he complimented you often.

The school day went slow. The rain made it difficult to focus on your studies, and your own giddiness at hanging out with Kuroo made you equally as distracted.

Soon enough, you were walking to practice with Kuroo.

“So, what are we going to do? I assume that Kenma and Aki will be coming, so we could watch movies—”

Kuroo looked down at you.

“I actually figured it’d be fun with just us,” he stated.

You choked on your words. Kuroo didn’t look alarmed, instead just staring at you with a smug grin. Your heart pounded in your chest, cheeks burning. Alone? With Kuroo Tetsurou? At your house? That sounded like a dream come true, but also extremely fatal to your poor heart which could barely keep up when Kuroo even talked to you in class.

“A-Alone?” you stuttered, and immediately regretted it.

Kuroo laughed and patted your shoulder. He didn’t seem too bothered by your insinuation.

“Yeah, don’t panic, chibi-chan. I’ll see you after practice!” he waved, then hurried to the club room to change.

Facing Kuroo was difficult in general. You wanted nothing more than to run away from him and hide away in your room with nothing but your anime and video games. The problem was that now he knew where you lived, and you doubted he was really going to accept it if you just ran away from him.

You sat at the corner of the bleachers, in your usual spot. Your face burned and your mind raced with thoughts. _You’d never been_ ** _alone_** _with Kuroo in your_ ** _home._** Rumors of him sleeping with girls raced through your head. He was known to get real friendly with girls, sleep with them, then dash off without an explanation. Was that what you were to him? Another name to his roster? Was what why he wanted to spend time with you alone?

You covered your face. You tried to remind yourself that this guy was a serious chemistry and gaming nerd. Besides, if Kuroo was going to try anything, he’d have done it when you were alone in a bathtub at the party. Not only that but it wasn’t fair to trust his rumors over what you’d actually seen from him. He’d never given you the impression of being the type of guy to set up flings with girls and play with their emotions. Really, from what you’d seen, he was just a guy who was popular, hot, and ended up on the bad end of the rumor mill.

Throughout his whole practice, you tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, you really did. It was hard with the whispering girls at the opposite end of the bleachers, and the way he smirked every time he performed a successful block.

What the hell was a guy like him doing hanging around you anyway?

Your mind burned with different images, which only made your face burn more. What would you do if he made a move on you? What would you say? There was a time when you really believed that if he asked you for it, you’d give it to him, but now you had doubts. That wasn’t _really_ what you wanted to give to him. You wanted more than that. Still, the idea was tempting.

“No, nope,” you stood up quickly.

The girls sitting nearby gave you weird looks as you hurried out of the gym and to the nearest restroom. You splashed your face with cold water, allowing the blush to fade. You huffed, staring in the mirror. Once you felt that your cheeks had gone back to a normal shade, you headed back to the gym.

Practice had ended, and Kuroo was now waiting for you outside with yours and his bags slung over his shoulder. He’d already gotten cleaned up and changed. He was on his phone, an uninterested look on his face.

You approached him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting,” you gulped, “I was in the bathroom.”

Kuroo shoved his phone in his pocket, a smile forming on his face.

“No problem, but you did miss an epic spike on my part,” he chuckled. “Ready?”

You nodded, and off the two of you went. The whole way to your house was awkward, and you knew it was your fault. You were stiff when talking to him, and every time his skin brushed yours on the train you jolted like he’d burned you. It didn’t take him long to finally ask what was going on.

“Are you alright?” Kuroo raised a brow. “We don’t need to hang out if you’re not feeling well.”

Now you just felt like an asshole. Man, you really need to grow up. This was so unfair to Kuroo. He wanted to hang out and you were acting like a jumpy middle schooler.

“No, no, I’m sorry! It’s okay, really,” you forced a smile. “I want to hang out.”

And you were telling the truth. You really were thrilled to be hanging out alone with the love of your life, but the paranoia caused by his rumors was overwhelming your excitement.

Kuroo looked hesitant for a moment, before nodding and continuing his conversation about “needing to teach Lev basic manners”. You tried to act more normal, not wanting your intrusive thoughts to ruin a good time with your friend. _Friend._ Don’t be weird and ruin it.

Soon enough, the two of you were in your home. You kicked off your shoes and hung your bag, then hurried to the kitchen to start on the hot chocolates. Kuroo trailed after you, hands stuffed in his pants pockets. He seemed laidback, as usual. Of course, he wasn’t the type of guy to be nervous alone with a girl. . .

You got to work, biting your bottom lip.

“We should watch movies in your room,” Kuroo hummed, staring at a picture of you that was on the fridge, “it has that cool window seat thing. We can watch the rain and shit.”

His statement was so innocent, and yet you felt that pounding in your chest come back. You hummed in response, not turning to face him out of fear that he’d see the burning in your cheeks. Why did this seem like something a couple would do? Watch the rain together. Drink hot chocolates together. Be alone in a bedroom together—

Two arms wrapped around your middle suddenly. Your eyes widened at the feeling of Kuroo’s chest pressing against your back. He rested his chin on your shoulder and let out a yawn.

“Chocolate sure smells good,” he mumbled. “I’m definitely going to fall asleep.”

The image of the volleyball captain asleep in your window while cradling a mug of hot chocolate popped into your mind. Your cheeks burned more, but now for an entirely different reason. You couldn’t help but giggle, feeling stupid for being so nervous.

Kuroo poked your cheek.

“Oi, what’s with the laugh?”

You looked at him. His face was close to yours, leaving nothing to imagination. The temptation to kiss him was overwhelming. You gulped, choosing to be honest instead of making up some lame excuse.

“I imagined you asleep in the window,” you admitted, “it was pretty cute.”

Kuroo’s eyes widened in the slightest. The tips of his ears burned and he was yanking away from you quicker than you could react. You stared at him as he turned around, his back facing you. He covered the lower half of his face with his hand.

“I’m not cute,” he muttered, “I’m like. . . a cougar. Rawr.”

You snorted, then shook your head and continued with the hot chocolate. Kuroo, in many ways, was terrifying. He had an intensity in his aura that matched a lion, especially when he was focused and playing volleyball. However, lions can be cute too, and in Kuroo’s rare moments such as the ones spent with his friends, you saw the side to him that didn’t match his rumors.

You wondered for a moment if he knew of his rumors. Likely, he did. You’d been unfair to him, assuming he was exactly like how his rumors said he was. Frankly, you owed him an apology.

You shook it off, then hurriedly poured the homemade hot chocolate into two large mugs. You tapped Kuroo’s shoulder, and he finally turned to face you. There was a faint redness to his cheeks, and you decided not to make a comment on it. You offered him a mug.

“Ready to watch the rain?” you giggled.

Kuroo chuckled and nodded.

You went to your room. As you entered, you did a quick glance around to make sure you hadn’t left anything suspicious laying about. Thankfully, no bras or panties were left out so you were safe.

You went to the window seat on the opposite side of your room. Kuroo joined you. You both had your knees pulled to your chests, leaving a safe amount of space between you. Your feet rested on top of his, and you kept your gaze focused out the window. The rain had turned to snow, and the sun had set enough for it to make the room slightly darker.

“Hey, Kuroo,” you spoke, tearing your gaze from the scene and to him.

“Hm?” He was already looking at you.

Your cheeks were burning. You owed him an apology, and now was the perfect time to give it, no matter how humiliating it was. He was your friend above all and he was nothing but good to you, so he deserved it.

“I’m sorry,” you gulped.

He tilted his head, bangs falling to the side and revealing more of his handsome face to you. You fidgeted, bringing your mug to your lips but not drinking it.

“I um. . . I was being unfair to you earlier. I’m sorry for being awkward about you coming over,” you confessed.

You wanted to tell him more, but that would be too revealing. Instead, you stopped there and averted your gaze from him. He’d probably bombard you with questions like why you were being awkward.

Kuroo leaned forward, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you to him. You squeaked, staring up at his face. His breath fanned over you, sweet from the hot chocolate. You wondered if his lips tasted the same. You were now sat between his legs, cradling your hot chocolate like your life depended on it.

He cupped your cheek in his hand, staring at you with an intensity you weren’t ready for. You could kiss him right now, if you wanted. And the pull was there and almost touchable—

“It’s because of the rumors, huh?” Kuroo sighed.

You quickly erased the thoughts of kissing him. Kuroo let go of your cheek and leaned back. He looked out the window.

“I figured that was the reason. Sorry if I gave you that kind of impression.” He didn’t sound offended; more like. . . he was upset. “Wanna here something funny?”

You swallowed. “Kuroo, I—”

“I’ve only slept with two girls,” he hummed, “my ex sort of started the rumor and everyone jumped on board. It’s not a big deal, more just a nuisance because now girls think I’m easy or something. The other girl was a fling because I thought, ‘damn the bad boy vibe sounds badass, I’ll jump on board’, but it wasn’t my thing and I still ended up with the rumor.”

Kuroo rested his arms behind his head, looking at you with a grin. He looked anything but happy, though. You had an overwhelming urge to grab onto him and not let go. The guilt of ever believing any of those rumors was crushing. You felt just as bad as the people spreading the rumors.

You set your hot chocolate down, then moved forward. You wrapped your arms around his middle, pulling him to you in a tight hug. Your head rested on his chest and your fists clutched the back of his shirt.

“I’m sorry, Kuroo,” you mumbled.

Kuroo’s arms wrapped around you. They were big and warm, confining you to the safety of his hold. Just like this, you could be content for the rest of your life. Like this, with the snow falling outside and his arms around you.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x gamer!fem!reader
> 
> Word Count: 4,257
> 
> Genre: Fluff
> 
> Warnings: Underage drinking, slightly jealous Kuroo
> 
> A/n: I honestly haven’t decided if I like this chapter or not so please give me feedback on your feelings on it. I’ve had about three rough drafts for this stupid chapter and this is the only one I felt semi-confident in. I would spend another day on it, but I really wanted to post this on Kuroo’s birthday so here we are! Hope you guys enjoy some birthday shenanigans with some crazy beans. Please also give Kuroo a spiritual ‘happy birthday’ and appreciate him for the damn nerd that he is. Also please let me know if you guys want a 0-0 smut chapter. This'll be ending within the next few updates!

You smacked Kenma’s hand away from the cake batter. He gave you a snarky glare, before popping his cake-covered thumb in his mouth. He reminded you of a constantly grumpy kitten, but you didn’t tell him that.

“Are you sure he’ll like this flavor? I feel like you told me vanilla because it’s your favorite and not his,” you questioned for the nth time.

Kenma huffed, turning back down to the game in his hands. He was seated on the counter of your kitchen, wearing his Nekoma sweatpants and fluffy socks along with a sweatshirt you were pretty sure he actually stole from Kuroo considering it was huge on him.

“Trust me, he’ll like it.”

You narrowed your eyes at the boy, before continuing to work on the cake.

Today was Kuroo’s birthday, so you and his team had planned to surprise him later tonight. Parties, which was well known by you, weren’t really Kuroo’s thing but you figured that he’d appreciate a small thing with just his volleyball team and a few friends. Besides, it was at a place Kuroo had been before (Yaku’s), so he would hopefully feel a little more comfortable.

Then again, this _was_ Yaku’s idea so it could end up being something bigger than originally planned.

You had been in charge of making the cake. Well, you _and_ Kenma. Of course, Kenma wasn’t much of a baker so it was really just you while he gave moral support (and occasionally distracted you with the temptation of playing the game).

_Meow_

Kenma’s eyes darted toward you with a look of disgust at the sound that just left your phone. You smiled sheepishly, picking up your phone. You already knew who it was, considering the obnoxious _meow_ notification belonged to the one and only birthday boy. Kenma had probably already figured it out.

**Kuro | 12:37 AM – hey watcha up to**

You couldn’t exactly tell him you were baking a cake for his surprise b-day party, so you came up with probably the worst excuse in history.

**Me | 12:38 AM – working on chemistry hw**

**Kuro | 12:38 AM – cool me too. I’ll come over and we can work together**

You sputtered. Kenma leaned over to peek over your shoulder at the texts. He smirked slightly.

“Nice job, you’re definitely going to expose us.”

You swatted at him.

“What do I say?!”

Kenma shrugged. He turned to the cake batter, sticking his thumb in it while you were distracted. You swatted at him as he popped it into his mouth.

“Tell him. . . uh. . . you’re about to shower or something.”

You gave him a straight face. “That’s the worst excuse, he’ll just wait until I get finished.”

Kenma rolled his eyes. He snatched your phone from your hand. You leaned over to watch as he typed.

**Me | 12:42 AM – this is kenma don’t come over**

“Kenma! That was harsh!” you snatched your phone back.

Kenma shrugged, again, and went back to his game. You glared at him, but he didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

**Kuro | 12:44 AM – why are you there??????**

**Me | 12:44 AM – sorry gtg**

You groaned, feeling guilty for leaving so abruptly. You rubbed your temple.

“He’s definitely going to be suspicious,” you grumbled.

“He’s always suspicious. He probably already knows, honestly. Nobody’s ever actually thrown him a successful surprise party because he figures it out too soon,” Kenma huffed.

“Really? Then why are we throwing a surprise party and not just a party if he’s going to figure it out anyway?” you questioned.

“Yaku thinks he will finally pull off a successful surprise party.”

That seemed like a decent enough reason. You shook your head, then went back to working on your cake.

It wasn’t until after the cake was baked and shaped that Kenma finally began putting in an effort. The two of you frosted it, then began decorating it. To be honest, it was probably the ugliest cake you’ve ever made (you blame Kenma’s lazy artistic attempt at drawing black cats with frosting). Once it was finished, the two of you stepped back to admire the piece.

“Well, hopefully he’s blind when he sees it because this is real ugly,” Kenma stated.

You swatted his head.

“Shut up! It’s the thought that counts!”

Kenma grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

Now that the cake bit was finished, you wanted to actually buy Kuroo something. Kenma said he was on the same boat, so off the two of you went to buy him birthday gifts. You headed to the shopping district, peeking through different stores. It was difficult to resist buying yourself something, and Kenma seemed to be on the same boat.

You headed into a game store with Kenma for “just a look”. You checked out different games, grumbling about wanting to treat yourself. Kenma nudged your shoulder.

“You should get this for Kuroo,” he mumbled.

You grabbed the game from him. It was a two-player RPG, one that Kuroo would probably enjoy since he liked the fantasy-type settings. You hummed in thought.

“Why don’t you get it for him? He goes to your house more, doesn’t he?”

Kenma shrugged.

“I think he’d rather play this one with you.”

You couldn’t help but blush at his words, and chose to get it just because his best friend told you so. You got it and Kenma got his friend a giant Minecraft sword. Why? You weren’t sure yourself, but Kenma definitely seemed like the type of guy to just buy random things for his friends. 

After purchasing a few more gifts for your crush, you headed back home. Kenma and you parted ways once reaching your neighborhood, and you hurried the rest of the way home to get ready.

You put a little more effort into how you looked than you’d want to admit. You knew this wasn’t a formal thing, but you still wanted too look semi-nice. . . just for Kuroo. Besides, Aki would yell at you if you showed up without putting in some effort to look nice. So, you put on a cute dress and leggings, then some makeup, and felt like you looked semi-presentable for Kuroo’s party.

_Meow_

**Kuro | 5:02 PM – youre not mad at me right ;3;**

**Me | 5:03 PM – what no, why would you think I’m mad at you? ;-;**

You went downstairs to gather your things. The party was in about an hour, and Yaku would be here any minute to pick you up. You glanced at your phone.

**Kuro is typing. . .**

Three loud knocks on your door quickly distracted you. You opened the door, letting Yaku and Lev take control in taking the giant cake to the car.

“Man, this thing is ugly—”

Yaku kicked Lev’s shin. “Shut up! It’s the thought that counts!”

You snickered, grabbing your wrapped up gifts for Kuroo, before heading out with the boys. You were on cake duty as Yaku drove, making sure the giant thing didn’t spill all over the place. That would be a catastrophe for a million different reasons.

You took a glance at your phone, seeing Kuroo had finally responded.

**Kuro | 5:12 PM – don’t scare me like that. I’ve been stressed all day thinking you were angry :’D anyway kenma says I have to get dinner with him and Yaku so gtg get ready**

You shook your head, snickering at the poor guy.

You arrived at Yaku’s house. Almost the entirety of the team was here, along with some of Kuroo’s other friends. Bokuto came bounding out to greet you, then carried the cake with one hand and somehow didn’t drop it. You were introduced to a tall guy named Tsukishima from Karasuno, along with his teammates Kageyama and Hinata. There were some other strangers there, but mostly it was people you’d met from attending Nekoma volleyball games.

You scurried inside, helping the boys (and some girls), get things set up. Aki of course hounded you about your appearance (in a good way). You chose to ignore every time she screamed “sexy beast” across the whole house and everyone turned to look at your poor flustered form.

“Okay guys, I’m gonna go get Kuroo!” Yaku called, then hurried out.

You began to get antsy. Kuroo definitely knew what was up, but this party had become bigger than you’d originally anticipated. You were worried he wouldn’t like it. Then again, he was way too nice to say anything. Your reminded yourself that this was a house full of Kuroo’s friends and not just random classmates.

“What’d you get him?” Aki mumbled to you from where the two of you were sitting on the couch.

You glanced at the gift bag.

“Ah. . . I got him a game and some other stuff. . . I didn’t really know what he’d want,” you mumbled.

Aki smirked, humming.

“Oh yeah? You didn’t get him a wedding ring?”

You smacked her arm and turned away quickly. Thankfully everyone else was busy on their own conversations and hadn’t heard her comment.

Once Yaku had texted Lev “package has arrived”, everyone got into positions. You and Aki kneeled on the couch beside one another, ready to spring up once the door opened. You heard the keys jingling and Yaku talking loudly about “hand-making his dinner so he better be grateful”. The door opened, the lights flicked on, and everyone sprang out of their spots screaming “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”.

Kuroo stood in the doorway, blinking a few times. Everyone stared at him in anticipation, mostly to see if he was actually surprised. He grinned awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Damn,” he chuckled, “Yaku you got me.”

Yaku slapped him on the back, hard, and let out a shout of victory.

“FINALLY!” he cheered, and everyone else joined him.

You giggled, looking at Kuroo who really did look genuinely surprised. His eyes fell to you, and like a sudden light had filled him, he perked up and walked straight toward you.

“I blame you,” he poked your nose, “you distracted me all day.”

You puffed out your cheeks. “I didn’t do anything!”

Kenma sauntered in behind his friend. He casually dropped himself onto the couch, focused on the console in his hands. He was slightly more dressed up than before, now wearing a t-shirt and actual pants and shoes.

“He thought we were on a date so he was pouting all day,” he stated.

If your cheeks were red, then there was no way to describe what Kuroo’s cheeks looked like. His entire face was bright red, and you could almost swear that steam was billowing from his ears. He grabbed his friend by his collar, yanked him up, and stormed off to the kitchen. Kenma let himself be dragged, glancing at you from over his shoulder with a smirk.

“Kuroo!” Bokuto called, chasing after his friend, and thus the party was started.

You were perfectly content on the couch and not really interacting with everyone while they vied for the birthday boy’s attention. You were happy enough just watching the interaction, but unfortunately your friends weren’t.

A group of them had gathered around the living room. You found yourself squished between Kuroo and Lev. Kuroo offered you his cup. This time you knew it was alcohol, based on the pink tint to his cheeks. You shook your head with a smile.

“Alright!” Yaku clapped his hands together once to get everyone’s attention. “We’re playing truth or dare. Of course, starting with the birthday boy!”

Everyone zoned in on Kuroo like a bunch of predators. He didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. His smug grin stretched wider from the attention.

“Dare.”

“I dare you to take off your shirt, wet it, then freeze it in the freezer.”

You suspected that dare would come back later and bite Kuroo in the ass, but he did it nonetheless. Kuroo shoved his drink into your waiting hand, before he stood up and began unbuttoning it slowly. Of course, he just had to make a show of it. Your cheeks burned, but you giggled and whistled along with the others nonetheless.

Kuroo left the room. A few followed him to make sure he was actually going to freeze his shirt. A moment later, shirtless Kuroo returned and took his place beside you. You pretended you weren’t keenly aware of how his bare shoulder brushed against yours.

“Alright, who next~” Kuroo’s eyes scanned the group, before falling onto poor, innocent Kai.

“Truth,” Kai answered before Kuroo could ask.

Kuroo looked slightly dejected, but continued on anyway.

“Alright, who’s the hottest one in this room right now? C’mon, you know the answer,” Kuroo taunted and jokingly fanned his face.

Kai hummed, glancing around.

“Aki.”

You all snickered as your friend blew up into a furious bright red. Lucky for her, Kai was just as ready to move on from the embarrassment and was quick to ask the next question.

All you could do was attempt to bury yourself into the couch as everyone played the game, hoping not to be the next person picked. Sadly, fate had other plans and it wasn’t long before Kenma was staring you dead in the eyes after just having to admit what game he was actually bad at playing. You could feel the tension radiating off him, like he’d been waiting all night to finally ask you.

“(Y/n),” he spoke.

“Uh-oh,” Kuroo hummed beside you.

“Truth or dare?”

You gulped. You fidgeted with the hem of your skirt.

“Uh. . . Dare?”

With truth, you suspected Kenma had planned to get you to admit some type of feelings toward his best friend. In fact, you’d swear that he was vying for it. Still, he seemed unfazed by your choice.

“I dare you. . .” Kenma let his words hang for a moment to add to the tension. You wanted to cry. “I dare you to sit on the lap of the person to your left.”

_Which was Kuroo._

You pretended to be oblivious to this and slowly turned your head to look at the dark-haired boy. He was already staring at you, a smirk drawn across his lips. He leaned back with his arms resting over the back of the couch.

“Take your seat, chibi-chan,” he taunted.

You blamed his alcohol consumption on his sudden confidence. Still, you took note of the twinge of red at the tips of his ears. You covered your face as you awkwardly shuffled yourself onto Kuroo’s lap. Like a reflex, one of Kuroo’s arms was wrapped around you and tugging you further against him. You settled onto his lap, wishing you could bury yourself and never come out to the public eye again.

“U-Um. . . Bokuto-san, truth or dare?” you finally asked.

Bokuto, completely unfazed by the previous dare (in fact, you were pretty sure it was only you who was fazed), picked dare.

“I dare you to trade shirts with someone.”

It was a terrible dare, you knew it, but it was extremely hard to focus on the game when your back was pressed against Kuroo’s bare chest and his arm was around you. You felt like you were on fire. Normally Kuroo was equally as embarrassed, but his liquid courage (or maybe it was that his friends were watching) seemed to be giving him confidence.

Bokuto jumped up from his seat, pointing a finger at. . . you. How did this come back and bite you in the ass? And why did he even pick you!? You were wearing a dress!

“Trade with me! I like your dress!”

“W-What, you’ll rip it!”

“I won’t!”

“You will!”

“Will not!”

Kuroo finally piped in, chuckling.

“Bo, you’ll definitely rip it. You’re too thick.”

Bokuto pouted, then picked the next person who’s shirt he liked, which happened to be Tsukishima. The two traded shirts, and the game continued on. As time went on, more and more people cleared out. The Karasuno first-years were the first to leave, and others began leaving.

By the time it was late in the night, it was just you, Kuroo, Kenma (who was asleep in the corner and buried in Aki’s sweatshirt), Aki, Bokuto, Akaashi, Yaku, and a few other members of the Nekoma volleyball team. The game was still continuing, with minor dares taking place. To your discomfort, the frozen shirt had come back to bite Kuroo in the ass and now both of you were shivering as he wore the freezing fabric with you still seated on his lap. You tried to put a layer between you and him, but he protested saying “we’re in this together”. You couldn’t tell him no.

Yaku huffed after taking another swig of his alcoholic beverage. He and Aki were definitely the drunkest out of the group, and you and Kai were the most sober. Though, you’d admit to being a bit tipsy thanks to Kuroo constantly wanting to share with you.

“Oi, Kuroo,” Yaku pointed at the middle-blocker, “I dare you to—hic—kiss someone in this room.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “I didn’t even pick dare.”

“I don’t care, do it!” Yaku threw a pillow at Kuroo, which hit you instead.

You shoved the pillow off your lap and threw it back at Yaku. At the same moment, Kuroo’s hand took hold of your chin and turned your head toward him slowly. His face was red, and his hair had become even messier than usual. His lidded eyes stared into your own. For a moment you’d forgotten the dare, and simply stared at him.

Then, his lips were against yours. He was warm, despite the cold t-shirt, and you could taste the alcohol on his lips. He was pulling away from you before you could react. Kuroo leaned back on the couch and threw his head back.

“(Y/n),” he didn’t look at you, “truth or dare.”

You shakily brushed your fingers over your lips, eyes wide.

“U-Um. . . Dare. . .” you answered finally.

You looked at Kuroo when he didn’t answer. He had crashed, eyes closed and mouth open. You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face.

“Awe, man, he’s out,” Yaku complained, though he didn’t look much better. “Slap ‘im awake!”

Kai stood up with a sigh.

“Nope, all done for the night.” He stated, gathering everyone’s drinks and going to the kitchen.

You, who was mostly sober, stood from Kuroo’s lap and went to help your drunk friends. Your face was still burning from the kiss just minutes ago. You decided to blame it on the alcohol.

“Spare—hic—bedrooms are upstairs. Kuroo can stay on the couch,” Yaku stated as Kai practically carried him to his bedroom.

There was no way of helping most of these pour souls to a bedroom upstairs, so instead you hurried up to grab the blankets and pillows from the beds and bring them downstairs for makeshift beds. Kai and Akaashi helped you with everything and made sure everyone had a glass of water.

Really, it wasn’t too much work, until you got to the dark-haired boy knocked out on the couch. He was still wearing a wet and cold shirt, and in his position he’d definitely end up sore in the morning.

“Kuroo,” you patted his cheek, “Kuroo you need to take off your shirt and change into a dry one or you’ll catch a cold.”

Kuroo grumbled. Two thick arms wrapped around your middle and pulled you to him. You squeaked.

“I’m pretty sure I can’t even stand right now,” he mumbled, “and I also have to puke.”

You rolled your eyes.

“Kuroo, get up. I’ll help you to the bathroom but you better not puke on me.”

Kuroo’s eyes opened. He looked at you with a smirk.

You shimmied out of his hold and grabbed his hands. It took the help of both Kai and Akaashi to get Kuroo up. Honestly, getting him up was a feat. He was a big guy and the three of you were still feeling that alcohol.

Kuroo’s arm was draped over your shoulders as you guided him to the bathroom down the hall. He somehow made it all the way to the bathroom. Thankfully, after a bottle of water, he didn’t have to puke anymore. You helped him change into a dry t-shirt. He was seated on the lip of the bathtub.

You unbuttoned the wet shirt and peeled it off his skin. Ignoring your embarrassment, you helped him shimmy into the t-shirt. Kuroo stared at you tiredly.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

He looked significantly less drunk and more exhausted than anything. You smiled a bit, swiping your fingers through his tangled hair carefully.

“Of course.”

Kuroo’s heavy arm wrapped around you slowly. He sighed, resting his head on your stomach.

“I’m so unattractive right now,” he chuckled lowly.

You hummed. Honestly, if any other girl saw the state he was in, they’d probably agree with him. But you? Well, even when he was drunk, slightly sweaty, and tired, to you he was still the most attractive guy at Nekoma high.

In hopes he’d never remember what you said, you gave him your honest opinion.

“You’ll never be unattractive to me, Kuroo.”

Kuroo’s lips tilted upward. He held you like that for a few minutes. You thought he’d fallen asleep again for a moment, and just as you were about to say something, he turned and settled himself in the bathtub. He leaned his head back against the tile, shutting his eyes.

“C’mon,” he grumbled, arm still holding your waist and tugging you forward.

You gulped. You were exhausted (especially after getting this lug off that couch), so you accepted the invitation. You settled yourself between his legs, leaning back on his warm chest. His arms wrapped around your stomach, big and warm.

“Happy birthday, Kuroo,” you murmured, wanting to say it before he fell asleep.

You shut your eyes. Kuroo’s head fell forward to rest on your shoulder. If he said anything, you wouldn’t know because you’d already fallen asleep in his hold.

You awoke to the feeling of something brushing over your cheek. You let out a small hum, curling closer to the warmth. A small chuckle eased you out of your exhausted state and forced you to peel your eyes open. Your cheek was squished against a warm chest, and your arms were wrapped around the waist of the boy you couldn’t have fathomed ever cuddling with.

Kuroo’s knuckles gently brushed over your flushed cheek, a small smile playing at his lips as he stared down at you. He looked tired still, and his hair was a tangled mess. You stared back at his own red face. Neither of you bothered hiding your blushes.

“Morning, chibi-chan,” Kuroo murmured.

Your body acted on it’s own as you reached up and gently brushed his bangs from his face.

“Morning, Kuroo. . .”

While you were keenly aware of the loud talking from the kitchen down the hall, along with the smell of breakfast, you couldn’t seem to pull away from the boy in front of you. Even your embarrassment gave no say over your actions. This moment was far too precious to tear away. You wanted to live in this moment forever.

Kuroo gave no hint that he was interested in moving either. The two of you just stayed pressed up against the other, staring like it was the last time you’d ever see each other.

Eventually, the peace was interrupted.

“Oi, Kuroo!” Yaku banged on the door. “I made breakfast. Come get it but make sure you don’t stink! (Y/n), you too!”

Then, the embarrassment settled in. You quickly sat up and shambled out of the bathtub. Kuroo coughed, covering the lower half of his face with his hand as he straightened up. You looked in the mirror. You were a mess; hair tangled, makeup smeared, and clothes twisted. It’s a good thing your parents were away on a trip or they’d be wondering where the hell you were. Equally as lucky, school was cancelled today for a teacher ins-day.

You hurried out of the bathroom. Aki sought you out and the two of you got ready. She’d, thankfully, come prepared and had brought an extra toothbrush and clothing for you. You took off your smeared makeup, mind reeling with images from this morning.

“So, you and Kuroo, right~?” Aki nudged you with her elbow.

You sighed, applying some deodorant that she offered you.

“Um. . . no,” you couldn’t help but pout slightly.

“You know he definitely likes you, right? I mean, Yaku said to kiss someone last night and he chose you!” Aki sighed dreamily. “I knew you’d get your dream man. Honestly, I’m a little jealous.”

You rolled your eyes. You ignored her comment, but still found yourself smiling as the two of you headed downstairs to greet the boys and eat breakfast.

The morning, much like the night before, was filled with laughs and jokes. Yaku and Bokuto ended up in an arm-wrestling match (which Yaku lost), and Aki was attempting to shove her forkful of pancake into Kenma’s mouth. You weren’t sure how, but you’d ended up on Kuroo’s lap while the two of you shared a plate of food. Nothing was made official, and you weren’t expecting it to, but you found yourself indulging in the high of the moment.

For just a while, you really felt like you belonged to Kuroo Tetsurou.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x gamer!fem!reader
> 
> Word Count: 4,556
> 
> Genre: Fluff
> 
> Warnings: Language, jealous Kuroo, slight mention of blood
> 
> A/n: Every time I try to release a new chapter it’s like my brain is never content with the first few rough drafts so I end up rewriting the chapter multiple times until I’m satisfied. I cannot even begin to express to you how frustrated I was when I wrote a 6,000-word chapter and was entirely discontent with it after rereading through it. So, here we are with something completely different and the slow burn being dragged out even further. Sigh, will this story ever come to an end? We’ll never know. Also, I read In Another Life for the first time today and I lemme tell you my emotions were all over the place when writing this.

Kuroo Tetsurou looked good in a beanie, you decided. His hair was pressed down by the grey beanie, with knitted cat ears poking up from the fabric. His bangs covered his eye completely now, but he didn’t seem phased in the slightest. He stood proudly in front of you, hands on his hips and a grin on his face.

“Don’t I look awesome?” he asked, as if he hadn’t just dug through your closet and found the beanie hidden on the very top shelf.

You stared at him, no longer able to focus on the gaming console in your hands. You were definitely blushing, but Kuroo made no comment. He just waited for your response all while looking smug as ever.

“Where did you find that?” you asked, ignoring his question and knowing full-well where he’d gotten it.

Kuroo’s smirk widened.

“You should definitely wear this more.” He went to you, who was seated in the middle of your bed. “I bet cat ears are totally your thing, kitten.”

Kuroo yanked the hat off his head and kneeled in front of you. The bed sank with his added weight. His face felt far too close as he leaned in and pulled the hat over your head. He adjusted it to a proper position, then grabbed the ends of the cat ears and pulled them up. You stared up at his face with your nose scrunched up in embarrassment.

“I look stupid with this hat, Kuroo. There’s a reason it was on my top shelf where I couldn’t reach it,” you huffed.

Kuroo snorted. He flopped onto your bed, outstretching his limbs and taking up way more space than necessary, as if the entirety of his body mass didn’t already do that for him. You stared at him, trying not to think too hard about the fact that Kuroo and you were alone in your room and on your bed.

Kuroo rolled over onto his back and folded his arms behind his head. He stared at you, grinning.

“Good thing you have a tall guy like me to find it,” he stated, “and you don’t look stupid. It looks cute on you.”

You blushed furiously in response to his compliment. You quickly turned back down to your game.

“I do not. . .” you grumbled.

“Do too.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

You huffed, glancing at him.

“It looked better on you, actually.” You stated before you could stop yourself.

Kuroo choked on his next words, which were likely “do too” as he expected you to counter him again. His face was now as red as the t-shirt he was wearing. He covered it with one arm.

You wanted to make fun of him, but your face was equally as red. You averted your gaze and nervously tugged at the tips of the knitted grey cat ears on the beanie, knees tucked into your chest.

Kuroo and you were always walking on a thin line with one another, just barely on the verge of being something more than friends. Compliments, unnecessary physical contact, constantly hanging out. At this point, the only two people who didn’t think you both were together was you and Kuroo. You continued to convince yourself that Kuroo would never like you like that, while Kuroo kept himself at an arms-length before ever getting too close.

What an awkward state to be left in. . .

Finally, Kuroo sat up. He stretched his arms. You glanced at the way his biceps flexed, but didn’t make it too obvious. He turned to you with his usual smirk.

“You’re coming to the game tomorrow, right?” he tapped your nose. “You better be ready to watch me kick that stupid snake’s ass.”

You smiled.

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

And, you didn’t. You were the first person in the stands, along with Aki. You wore the jersey Kuroo had given you, and even cheered on occasion when he or another member hit a perfect spike or made a great receive. You probably cheered loudest when the boys won against Nohebi, arms thrown up with a wide grin.

Kuroo’s eyes snapped toward you, who beamed at him from up in the stands. Like a reflex, he was waving at you and playfully blowing you a kiss, just before he was dragged away by his teammates. You were left blushing furiously and wanting to see him to congratulate him in person.

You grabbed your bag, said a quick “I’ll be right back” to Aki, then hurried down the stands. You were sure you looked like a giddy fangirl as you searched for Kuroo, but the high of Nekoma’s win had rubbed off on you. You were so happy for Kuroo and your other fellow third-years to have finally made it to nationals.

You awkwardly shuffled through the crowd, holding tightly onto the bag in your hand. Your other hand was on your head, holding the grey beanie to your head to make sure it didn’t get knocked off and lost. Your heart was thudding, and you were so focused on finding the volleyball captain that you weren’t really paying much attention to your surroundings.

You flinched when someone’s shoulder bumped into yours. You were quick to whirl around and apologize, blushing furiously from embarrassment.

“Watch it!”

“I’m so sorry!” you squeaked, turning your chin up to look at the boy in front of you.

You wanted to bite back your words the second you recognized him.

Nohebi’s captain stared down at you, eyes fierce as he took in the number on the black and red Nekoma jersey. He crossed his arms over his chest, turning his chin up. He almost looked. . . disgusted? Ironic for someone still slick with sweat from the game.

Like putting on a mask, his expression changed instantly into a deceiving smile. His features softened as he took in your appearance.

“I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I bumped into such a pretty girl,” he apologized.

His personality switch gave you whiplash. You gulped, fingers tightening around the handles of the bag in your hands.

“Um. . . It’s okay. It was my fault for not paying attention, so I should be the one apologizing,” you said.

The captain lightly grabbed your hand and pulled you away from the middle of the crowd. Once the two of you were away from the crowds, he brought your hand up to his face and pressed his lips to your knuckles.

Immediately, your cheeks were burning. You stared at him with wide eyes, unsure how to respond.

“I’m Daisho Suguru.” he introduced, shooting you a wink. “What’s your name, kitten?”

You swallowed the lump in your throat. The feeling of his lips still burned into your skin. For a snake he sure was warm, but nothing compared to the heat that was radiating from your face. You felt dizzy, almost. Was this shock? It must be. Shock from having a very attractive boy from a different school kissing your hand and calling you beautiful.

Daisho chuckled, lidded eyes staring down at your red face.

“C’mon, kitten. What’s your name?” he hummed, patting your cheek lightly to knock you out of your trance.

You gulped.

“I-I’m (L/n) (Y/n),” you babbled out, stumbling over your words.

Daisho grinned. He released your hand and crossed his arms over his chest. He was much shorter than Kuroo. He had broad shoulders, though slim in comparison to your volleyball team captain.

“So, what’s a little kitten like you doing away from your school? Came to spent time with us snakes for a bit?” he teased.

You nervously played with the hem of Kuroo’s jersey and averted your gaze.

“I was looking for someone,” you said.

“Well, I’m glad you did. It’s good to know that not everyone from Nekoma is a bunch of flea-infested felines,” he huffed.

You scrunched up your nose. The way he talked about your school made you uncomfortable. Sure, Nohebi and Nekoma were rival schools, but the way he talked made it seem like there was more to his hatred for your high school. You glanced up at his face.

Daisho’s dark eyes were already focused on you. You stopped yourself from stepping away from the intensity of his stare. He eyed you like prey, like he wanted to eat you whole. For a moment you felt like a small kitten trapped in the clutches of a python.

“I didn’t mean it like that. My apologies, (Y/n)-chan.” Daisho reached forward to grab your hand. “How about we grab dinner tonight? My treat for bumping into such a cute little thing like you—”

A heavy weight fell over your shoulders and immediately cut off Daisho’s question. You looked up. Immediately, the tension in your body was gone.

In came the lion to break you from the python’s clutches.

Kuroo stared daggers into Daisho, who also looked less than pleased to see the cat. Kuroo was smiling, but it wasn’t out of kindness. His jaw was clenched, and it almost felt like he was baring his teeth to the snake. His big arm was draped over your shoulders, taking up more space than necessary in order to establish a presence, as if his height and build didn’t already do that for him.

“Kuroo,” Daisho hissed.

The dark-haired captain smiled wider. His eyes darted down to where the snake was still holding your hand. You were getting nervous, nearly suffocating in the tension between the two men.

“Daisho,” Kuroo answered, “I didn’t realize snakes made a habit of harassing girls.”

Daisho’s eyes narrowed. He let go of your hand. He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin, attempting to look taller than he was but still not comparing to Kuroo. Kuroo took pride in this, and proceeded to straighten his own posture. You felt extremely small.

“I’m not harassing anyone, you stupid bastard. I’m talking to a pretty girl since the boys from Nekoma obviously aren’t smart enough to keep her from wandering.”

Kuroo’s eye twitched. His hold on your shoulders tightened slightly. You were pressed into his side, cheek slightly squished against his ribcage. You could feel his heartbeat which was beating rapidly.

Was he nervous? No, he didn’t seem nervous at all. He seemed angry. You decided to speak up before this escalated.

“Kuroo, he wasn’t doing anything,” you piped up, “we were just talking.”

His golden eyes snapped down to your face. Unlike with Daisho’s gaze, you didn’t back down from Kuroo’s sharp eyes. He examined you for any signs of discomfort. When he didn’t find any, he seemed to relax slightly. His hold loosened, and the tension in his shoulders faded.

Daisho glared at Kuroo for a few moments, before shaking his head and looking back to you. His features softened significantly. Like a mask over his true intentions, he put on a smile and leaned further down to your level. Kuroo’s arm tightened around you like he was ready to yank you away at any second.

“So, what do you say to that dinner? I’ll pay.”

“She’s not interested,” Kuroo chuckled, his ego inflating for reasons you weren’t sure of.

You felt annoyance prick at your brow and turned your head up to his smug face. Why was he putting in a say in what you were and weren’t interested in? He didn’t even look at you, just staring at Daisho’s now tense expression, completely overlooking any feelings you might have had. He was busy challenging Daisho instead of thinking about you.

“Last time I checked, it wasn’t your say,” you grumbled.

Kuroo blinked a few times. His ego was knocked down a peg and he was looking at you like a kicked puppy, mouth opening to quickly say something only to be cut off by Daisho.

“That’s not—”

“Wow, Kuroo. I knew you were toxic, but I never realized you were so controlling. Oh wait, is that jealousy?” Daisho grinned widely, now with the upper hand upon seeing the redness spreading across Kuroo’s face. “I’ve never seen _the_ Kuroo Tetsurou jealous over a girl! C’mon, you can run back to the list of girls etched onto your belt and leave the two of us alone.”

Kuroo sputtered, his face burning. He’d released your shoulder and now had his fists clenched at his sides. You hadn’t meant to gang up on Kuroo.

You stood to the side while the two of them argued, clutching onto the bag. Obviously Daisho had targeted you when he noticed Kuroo’s jersey, and Kuroo must’ve known this which was why he was so quick to jump to your rescue. At least, you guessed that was the case.

“Kuroo,” you reached up to lightly tug at his sleeve, “c’mon, let’s just go.”

You had been looking for him, after all, with the intent to congratulate him on his win.

Kuroo turned to you. His face softened. He glanced at Daisho, then dropped his heavy arm over your shoulders and began walking away with you. You glanced behind you at Daisho, who stood there looking like he’d won. You stuck your tongue out at him and pulled down one eyelid. His expression changed into one of shock, and made you smirk.

“What were you doing wandering around alone?” Kuroo spoke up once you were far enough from Daisho and the crowds.

You turned up to him. He looked angry, his brows knitted and a scowl pulling at his lips.

You blinked a few times.

“I was just looking for you,” you gulped. “Why are you so angry?”

“Because that creepy prick could have done something,” he snapped, “and if I wasn’t there then you would have gone on a date with him.”

Your face fell. For a moment you mistook his words as him assuming you were willing to go on a date with the first guy who asked you. After a moment, you realized that wasn’t the case. Kuroo’s tone held _insecurity._ He stared ahead, nose scrunched up with disgust, and his eyes held his insecurity. Did Kuroo really not see how great he was?

You grabbed his hand, pulling him to a stop. Kuroo turned to you, confused. You held out the small bag to him, gulping. You kept yourself from looking away, wanting to see his reaction in its entirety.

“T-This is for you, Kuroo,” you said, “to congratulate you on your win.”

Kuroo looked at the bag. He tilted his head.

“What is it?” he questioned.

“Just open it.”

He smiled a bit, then took the bag from you. He peeked inside. Immediately, his eyes lit up. Your own face lit up upon seeing his reaction. He grinned, pulling out what was in the bag. In his hand was a beanie exactly like yours, only in black rather than grey, and it was a slightly larger size than your own. You’d worked all night knitting it for him, so there were a few mistakes, but he didn’t seem to care.

Kuroo dropped the bag and pulled the hat over his head. You giggled, reaching up to pull the cat ears into a perked-up position. Without thinking, you also pushed his bangs away from his face. He stared at you with a lazy grin stretched over his features.

“Now we match,” you said, beaming.

Kuroo chuckled. He grabbed you, pulling you into a tight hug. Your face reddened, but you returned the hug nonetheless. He smelled familiar. Sweatier than usual, but still familiar. He was warm, he always was, and you could feel the muscle beneath his jersey as he pressed you against him.

“Thanks, kitten.”

You looked up at his face. He stared back down at you. This was the perfect moment for a kiss. He might even have kissed you then if not for Aki interrupting the moment as she called your name.

You pulled away from him quickly, rubbing the back of your neck awkwardly. Kuroo cleared his throat and reached up to adjust his hat. Your cheeks were red, and so were his. It felt like you’d been caught doing something scandalous. Of course, that wasn’t the case. Thankfully, the tension went right over Aki’s head. Unfortunately, it didn’t go over Kenma’s.

Kenma narrowed his eyes at Kuroo, suspicion written all over his face. Kuroo averted his gaze quickly and let out a whistle.

“Oh! You gave Kuroo the hat! Do you like it? She worked all night on it so you better,” Aki’s eyes narrowed playfully.

“Oya?” Kuroo smirked, turning to you. “All night, huh?”

You huffed, shoving his chest. You waved him off.

“Kuroo, we need to go shower,” Kenma sighed. “You stink.”

Kuroo’s brow twitched. He looked at Kenma with a scowl. “Do not!”

You pushed him away playfully.

“You definitely do.”

“Hey!”

Kuroo whined as he was dragged away with Kenma. Before the two of them turned the corner, however, he stopped and turned to you and Aki.

“By the way, the team is doing a celebratory dinner! You guys should come!” he called.

You and Aki beamed. “Sure!”

“Great! We’ll meet you outside the gym!” Kuroo said before disappearing around the corner.

At this point, you’d become well-acquainted with the entire Nekoma boys’ volleyball team. Going to dinner with them was no issue. What _was_ an issue, however, was Kuroo. Nothing new there, only this time it wasn’t actually Kuroo’s fault. Rather, it was the boys who teased you relentlessly about yours and the captain’s relationship.

So, this would be a fun night.

You walked alongside Kenma on the way to the restaurant, staring at you phone screen as you fought with Kenma against a boss. You sighed when you were once again defeated.

“You should use your defensive strategy more than offensive,” Kenma commented.

You sighed. “I would but I really need to be working on my offense.”

“You two sound like nerds,” Lev commented, walking behind you both and watching you play.

Kenma kicked him in the shin. Lev yowled and held the injury, bouncing on one leg. Kenma casually turned back to the game and continued the boss fight. You attempted a more defensive strategy, but still ended up on the losing side of the battle.

“How about I join?” Kuroo waved his phone. “Bigger party means a stronger party.”

Yaku snorted. Everyone ignored him.

“You really should’ve taken the hint sooner, Kuroo,” Kenma stated.

Kuroo let the comment slide and joined the two of you in the battle. While Kuroo wasn’t the best player, he definitely pulled his weight. With his help, the boss was defeated and the XP was split between you three. You cheered internally for _finally_ getting past that damn boss. You moved on to defeat some minor enemies and earn XP.

Kuroo nudged your elbow as he fell in line beside you. Together, you both leveled up until finally reaching the American-style place that Yaku had picked.

The waitress honestly didn’t look too pleased to see the entire volleyball team entering the place at such a late hour. Once Kuroo stepped forward, however, her persona changed. She was smiling and guiding the group to the big booth in the corner. He seemed less than interested in her flirtatious tone, but you still found yourself becoming annoyed.

You made sure you sat beside Kuroo in the booth, at the cost of being squished between him and Fukunaga. The flirty waitress took everyone’s drink orders, then stalked off with an unnecessary sway to her hips. You frowned a bit. Jealousy pulled at your chest like a silent viper.

“What are you gonna get, chibi-chan?” Kuroo asked, staring at the menu.

You pulled your thoughts away from the waitress and looked at the menu. You eyed all the different American-style meals. All of them sounded good, so it was difficult to choose.

“Um. . . probably a burger,” you answered, “except for that it’s really big.”

Kuroo chuckled. “It _is_ American.”

Fukunaga not-so-subtly snickered beside you. You smiled and rolled your eyes. You continued eyeing the menu of delicious food until the waitress came back. She passed out the drinks, and leaned all the way over the table to set Kuroo’s soda down. You averted your eyes immediately as her shirt fell forward to show off her cleavage.

“There you are, hun,” she grinned.

Annoyance ticked at your brow. You tapped your fingers impatiently on the surface of the table, casting a small glance down to your own chest and noting how much smaller yours were.

“Alright, what can I get for everyone’s meals?” the waitress asked.

Lev started the order with the chirp of “cheeseburger”. Everyone followed suit, until she got to Kuroo. He didn’t even look at her when he ordered, staring with lidded eyes at the menu. She forced her smile to widen.

“I’m sorry, cutie, I didn’t quite catch that,”

Kuroo lifted his head. He sighed, resting his chin in his palm. He restated his order. She wrote it down with a smile. It disappeared as she got to you. You felt her stare dig holes into you. You gulped, completely forgetting your order.

“Oh, um. . . I’ll have the cheeseburger.” You gulped.

The waitress wrote it down with a sigh, then continued taking the remaining orders. At long last, she finally left to take the orders to the kitchen. The tension in your shoulders disappeared once she was gone. Fukunaga cast you a glance when he felt it. You offered him a smile in return.

Kuroo’s elbow nudged yours. You turned to him. His uninterested expression from before had disappeared. _Thank god,_ you thought.

“So, you’re coming to watch our Nationals games, right?” he teased. “Going to need our biggest fan there.”

You smiled. You played with the corner of your napkin.

“Of course I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it.” you stated.

Kuroo returned the smile. “Good. It is some of my last games, so I’m glad you’ll be there.”

It was painful to hear the reminder. He was right. The games during Nationals were going to be his last, along with Yaku and Kai’s. It would also be your last opportunity to watch Kuroo play for Nekoma. High school would be coming to an end soon. This innocence, this relationship you had with Kuroo, it would all end in the coming months.

Clearly, the rest of the team was thinking the same thing. The tension around the table could be felt in the air.

“Oi, dumbass, don’t drag down the mood like that,” Yaku threw the salt at Kuroo, who nimbly dodged it before it smacked him in the nose.

“Hey! I didn’t mean to!” Kuroo threw the salt back at Yaku.

“Shut up!” The salt went flying back at Kuroo, who, unfortunately, didn’t dodge in time.

Salt flew everywhere. It spilled all down Kuroo, in his shirt, hat, hair, lap, and probably everywhere else you could think off. You were also unfortunate enough to have the salt spill on you, only significantly less than the poor captain. He also had a nice red mark on his nose where he’d been hit. He blinked a few times, staring at Yaku, who looked mildly horrified.

_driiiiip_

A drop of red landed on Kuroo’s arm. Your eyes widened. You quickly grabbed your napkin and held it up to his bleeding nose. Kuroo didn’t look fazed in the slightest, which mildly alarmed you. You shuffled him out of the booth, continuing to hold the napkin to his nose.

“Your nose is bleeding! Kuroo, I swear!” you babbled, kicking his calf to urge him to move faster.

“It’s not my fault!” Kuroo laughed as he awkwardly shuffled over Kai.

Finally, the two of you were out of the booth. You rushed him toward the bathrooms, one hand holding the napkin to his nose while his head was turned backward and the other on his back to guide him through the restaurant. People gave you both odd looks, but you were more worried about Kuroo’s potentially broken nose.

Once you’d reached the door to the men’s bathroom, you stopped.

“Go get cleaned up,” you lowered your hand, letting him hold the bloody napkin to his face. “I’ll go help the others clean up our booth.”

Kuroo smirked.

“You’re not going to be my private nurse and help me?” he teased.

If his nose wasn’t already bleeding, you’d smack him.

“I can’t just walk into the men’s bathroom.” you huffed.

“Sure you can. It’s a single stall.” Kuroo opened the door to prove his statement correct.

You huffed, shoving him into the bathroom. You locked the door, then had him take a seat on the bench beside the door. You took away the bloodied napkin. His nose had stopped bleeding, thankfully. You wetted a paper towel and gently dabbed away the blood around his nose, then wiped away the drop of blood on his arm. He stared at you the whole time, looking smug. You eyed the swollen spot on the bridge of his nose, where the salt had hit him and practically burst. Not broken, but it was definitely going to bruise.

“Am I horrifically scarred?” Kuroo teased.

Even if he was, you’d probably still love him.

“Nope, but it’s going to bruise.”

Kuroo chuckled. His eyes glinted mischievously. “I think a kiss would make it better.”

Your cheeks flared. Where had his sudden confidence come from? You stared at his face. He didn’t falter a single bit. In fact, his smirk only stretched wider. You huffed, giving in. You leaned down, pressing your lips to the sore spot on the bridge of his nose.

When you pulled away, his ears were red and he looked extremely happy. You smiled.

“Feels better already,” he smiled, a genuine smile.

Kuroo stood up. He took off his beanie and shook out the salt from his hair. You wiped the salt off his shoulders, then wiped down your own shoulders. Kuroo lifted the front of his shirt and shook out the salt that’d fallen. You quickly averted your eyes from his stomach and abs.

Once he was felt he had gotten enough of the salt off him, he put the beanie back onto his head. The two of you left the bathroom and headed back to the table.

“Don’t start throwing the pepper when we get back,” you teased.

Kuroo playfully poked your side.

“Shut up. Yaku started it.”

You snickered.

When the both of you got back, the table had been cleaned off and everyone was digging into the food. You were glad to have missed the waitress when she brought the food. You told yourself it was because you didn’t want to see her reaction to the salt mess.

You shuffled into the booth once again, along with Kuroo, and without much incident everyone enjoyed their meals. Kuroo, ever the tall, built teenage boy, dug into your leftovers after you’d finished eating. You watched him, snickering. He glanced at you as he shoved another fry into his mouth, followed by a wink.

Soon enough, the group was heading out and heading separate directions. Kuroo and Kenma walked you and Aki home, and, the night ended.

It was just like the other nights spent dancing along that fine line with Kuroo.

Only this time, he’d held your hand on the way home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x gamer!fem!reader
> 
> Word Count: 5,594
> 
> Genre: Fluff/angst
> 
> Warnings: Jealousy, angst, insecurity, some innuendos toward the end
> 
> A/n: This chapter is one I can finally say I was content with on the first draft. There will probably be one or two more chapters after this. I haven’t decided if I want to write a smut chapter, so that’ll be the factor in deciding how many chapters are left. I’m honestly super pleased with how this whole fic turned out and I wanted to thank you all for sticking by for all of it! You guys are amazing, so thank you! I hope you guys enjoy! Please let me know your feelings on whether or not you guys want smut. I appreciate the feedback and your guys’ support through this!

As it turns out, your luck is horrific. What were the chances that the big-chested waitress from the American restaurant attended Nekoma? She was a third-year, though neither you nor Kuroo shared any classes with her. Honestly, you’d never have noticed her if not for you accidentally bumping into her on your way to club.

You stumbled back, nearly dropping your game console in the process. Your eyes snapped upward and you were quick to apologize. The girl stared at you with a look of distaste. It took you a few moments to even realize who this girl was. She obviously recognized you immediately as the girl taking up Kuroo Tetsurou’s time at the diner, and you, moments later, recognized her as the girl flashing her breasts in Kuroo’s face like that would suddenly interest him.

“Um, sorry for bumping into you,” you mumbled.

“Tch. Sure.”

Then, she stalked off. You watched her with furrowed brows and a frown, before making the rest of your way to club. She was on your mind the whole time. She felt like a threat, like she was someone who was going to take Kuroo away from you just because her boobs were bigger.

That. . . wouldn’t happen, right?

Kuroo never mentioned boobs. Well, of course he wouldn’t, but it wasn’t like he ever acted particularly interested in them. Maybe he was just being polite to you? Maybe he really would prefer a girl with a bigger chest? Or at least someone who used their assets to their advantage.

You scowled to yourself, lost in your thoughts. The poor first-years of the gaming club thought you had lost your mind.

“Who replaced (Y/n)?”

“Maybe she’s angry over losing a raid?”

Not the case, but you’d take it nonetheless. It was better than admitting to seething in jealousy over another girl.

Club ended early (probably because of your quiet rage), and you were quick to make your way to the gyms where you were meeting Kuroo and Kenma to watch Studio Ghibli movies. They were both stressed lately, practicing constantly because of nationals moving closer and closer. Not only that, but finals were coming up which made everyone’s schedules a little hectic.

You entered the gym. Lev waved to you the moment you entered. You waved back, then turned to make your way to your usual spot.

Which was **taken**.

You stopped in your tracks, eyes zoning in on the very girl who’d taken over your thoughts since your earlier encounter. She was seated in _your_ spot, surrounded by her snobby friends, and with her uniform top unbuttoned an inappropriate amount to show off extra cleavage. You cast a glance down at your perfectly buttoned top, then to Kuroo, who was focused on blocking the spike from Yamamoto.

You took a seat away from the girls, loosened your tie, and unbuttoned the very first button of your uniform top. Already, it was uncomfortable. You ignored it.

With a huff, you rested your chin in your palm and focused on the practice. You didn’t dare look at the girl who’d stolen your spot. Did she usually come to the volleyball practices? You didn’t remember ever seeing her here before, and there was no way she attended the volleyball games or you’d have definitely noticed her.

Right?

“Oi, chibi-chan!” Kuroo had finally noticed you, and came jogging over.

He grinned, wiping sweat from his brow. His other hand rested on his hip. He looked like a model and he didn’t even know it. All the girls were staring at him, undressing him with their eyes and making your mood sour even more.

Why’d he have to stand like a damn model for all the girls to admire? He had to of known about all the attention he was receiving.

“Hey, Kuroo,” you huffed.

He raised a brow, sensing your annoyance.

“You alright?”

You waved him off. “Fine. You should get back to practice.”

Kuroo’s brows were furrowed. He didn’t move for a few seconds, just looking at you like he expected you to tell him what was wrong. You didn’t, so he finally wandered back to practice.

You rubbed your temples, feeling the glares from the girls at the opposite end of the bleachers. Their whispers were less than interesting to you, so it was easy to ignore them. At first. The practice went the rest of the way as usual, though Kuroo did constantly glance at you like he was waiting for your head to explode or for you to burst into tears. Honestly, you didn’t know what was going through his head, and you felt bad for being so annoyed with him. Every time he did something, the girls would squeal and talk about how hot he was, along with other inappropriate words.

By the time practice had ended, you were silently seething and absolutely disgusted by their crude words about Kuroo. It wasn’t fair he was being so sexualized when there was more to him than his, granted, very attractive figure. What made it worse was that Kuroo had no clue, or at least acted like it, which only seemed to further annoy you. How can Kuroo pull up his shirt to wipe sweat from his upper lip like that with all these girls ready to take pictures of his abs? How can he stretch so casually while they ogled him and talked about how they wanted him to “rail them”?

You were glad as practice finally ended. Now these girls would stalk off to whatever pit they’d crawled out of—

“Kuroo-san!”

Your eye twitched at the sound of that obnoxious girl’s voice. Kuroo paused, turning to her as she approached him.

“Are you free tonight?” she beamed up at him. “My friends and I were planning on doing some karaoke. We’d love to have you join. Don’t worry, there will be other guys there.”

You wanted to stand up and tell her he was busy. You wanted to drop-kick her into oblivion and tell her that Kuroo belonged to you and you alone, but you didn’t. You wouldn’t, because Kuroo wasn’t yours. You were reminded of that constantly, especially now as he looked down at her, likely with an obvious view of her cleavage thanks to the way she pushed out her chest.

You even wished you had that much courage. Had you approached Kuroo sooner, your life would be much different.

“Sorry, I’m busy,” he sighed, placing his hands on his hips, “maybe another time.”

_Maybe another time?_

Was he counting on her asking again? Would he really go with her if she did? What if you didn’t have plans with him tonight? Would he have agreed? 

Your mind reeled with thoughts, with insecurity.

In your heart you knew that Kuroo was just overly nice, hence the reason why most girl’s thought he was flirting with them. At one point, he’d even admitted this to you. He

“Hey, what’s that face for?”

You blinked out of your daze. Kenma stood in front of you, effectively cutting you off from the sight of Kuroo and that girl. He must’ve known; Kenma was smart like that. You sighed, running a hand through your hair.

“It’s nothing.”

Even though it wasn’t, it’s what you told yourself for the next few days. It’s what you told yourself as you left the top two buttons to your uniform undone. It’s what you told yourself as you rolled up the waist of your skirt to shorten it slightly. It’s what you told yourself every time you went to Kuroo’s practice only to find the same girl there, in your spot, waiting to make her move on the middle blocker.

All you wanted was to get Kuroo’s attention, unaware of the attention it instead brought from other boys. And, still, Kuroo said nothing. He didn’t even seem to realize that you were dressing differently and changing up your uniform in order to show off _just a bit_ so Kuroo would spare a glance at you.

Your annoyance (and desperation) had become obvious, you knew it. But you didn’t tell Kuroo what the issue was no matter how many times he asked you.

What would you even say? Oh, sorry for being jealous that this girl is trying to take you away from me. Sorry for not being as pretty as her, or as confident. Sorry for not inviting you to karaoke.

Friday came around. You finished at club and headed to the volleyball practice with Aki. It was boba night with Kenma and Kuroo, but you didn’t feel as excited as you usually did.

The gym was bustling as you entered, nothing unusual. Even the girls who’d stolen your spot had become normal, so you took a seat in your _new_ usual spot. Aki sat beside you, casting a confused glance toward the group of girls.

“What’s with them?” she huffed.

“They’re always there now,” you mumbled, resting your chin in your palm.

Aki gave you a weird look. You chose to ignore it, instead focusing on the practice. The boys looked exhausted. You briefly wondered if it was fair to drag poor Kuroo and Kenma out for boba. Maybe it would be better to cancel the plans so they could get some rest—

“Hey! We’re still good for tonight, right?” Kuroo called as he jogged over, almost like he’d read your mind.

Kenma lazily trailed behind him, sipping at his water with an uninterested stare. You tried to perk up as they came over, but even doing that was difficult with four girls staring daggers into you.

“Maybe you guys should go home instead,” you said.

All three of your friends stared at you like you’d grown a second head. You gulped, cowering down slightly from their sharp eyes. You felt like a mouse caught between three hungry cats. You attempted to quickly fix your statement.

“J-Just because you guys look so tired! It might be better for you guys to go rest!” you said hurriedly.

Kuroo waved you off.

“No way, we already had plans. Besides, we’re fine, right, Kenma?” he turned to his friend.

Kenma looked like he was on the verge of collapsing. He stared up at Kuroo, golden eyes burning.

“ _You’re_ fine, maybe. I’m exhausted.”

Aki snorted ungracefully beside you. Kuroo gave him an expression of “really?”, and you sighed. Maybe you were being unfair for really wanting to cancel because it was _you_ who was tired. Tired of playing this game with Kuroo, and of being so frustrated at these girls when he wasn’t yours to begin with. Maybe you just wanted to avoid the drama.

“See? You guys really should just go rest,” you forced a small smile on your face.

“I’d rather go get boba,” Kenma spoke again. “I’ll rest after.”

He was giving you a weird look, like he _knew_. It was becoming annoying, that look of “what are you doing, stop being weird”. Just like you’d done with Aki, you ignored it. You leaned forward, chin in both your palms while your elbows rested on your knees. Kuroo hunched down slightly so he was eye-level with you, his hands on his knees.

“Quit trying to cancel our plans,” he huffed. “We’re getting boba tonight.”

Kuroo stared straight into your eyes, not moving downward in the slightest. Had he even noticed your unbuttoned shirt? You’d done it for him and he didn’t even care. It wasn’t even like you really cared for him to look, you just. . . wanted to be better than that girl.

“Right. Boba,” you said, “can’t wait.”

Kuroo sighed. He ruffled your hair, then jogged off with Kenma in tow.

“What’s with you?” Aki elbowed you. “You’re being weird.”

“Nothing is wrong,” you muttered.

Aki elbowed you harder. You scooted away from her, glaring at her.

“Something is obviously wrong. You just tried to cancel a date with the love of your life,” she snapped. “You never cancel plans with Kuroo. Tell me what’s wrong.”

You huffed. “Nothing is wrong. Drop it. And don’t say that so loud.”

Aki rolled her eyes, annoyance now rolling off both of you in waves. Kuroo and Kenma noticed it as they returned, now showered and changed. You stood up, grabbing your bag. Aki grabbed Kenma’s arm, dragging him off ahead, probably to complain about how stupid you were being. You and Kuroo followed them out of the gym.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s been bugging you or are you going to keep telling me everything is fine?” Kuroo sighed, digging through his bag for something.

Kuroo was bound to ask eventually. Of course, you couldn’t tell him.

“I’m just tired from finals,” you lied.

Kuroo sighed.

“That must be why you’ve switched up your uniform,” he said sarcastically, before pulling out his hoodie from his bag and throwing it over you. “Put it on.”

You obeyed, tugging the hoodie over your head. Your cheeks were red as his scent surrounded you. For a moment, you felt a little better. That is, until you realized what he’d said.

“I’m allowed to change up my uniform. . .” you grumbled, embarrassed now that he’d realized.

The boy beside you was staring daggers into the side of your face, and you didn’t turn your head to meet his stare. Your cheeks were burning, so you hid the lower half of your face in the collar of the hoodie. Kuroo grabbed your arm as he stopped walking. You stood in front of him, staring down at his shoes. His feet looked huge compared to your own. You were small, maybe he was interested in someone taller—

“Is someone bothering you? Did someone say something to you? I’m not afraid of jail, I’ll beat them up—”

“No! No, that’s not it at all!” you now stared up at him incredulously.

Kuroo raised a brow and crossed his arms. “So there is a problem.”

Shit.

You instantly averted your eyes.

“I told you it was because of finals.” you lied.

Sensing that he wouldn’t be able to get it out of you, Kuroo let out an annoyed grunt. You frowned to yourself, frustrated. You’d never been on the receiving end of his annoyance, and you didn’t like it.

“You’re a terrible liar.” he snapped.

Kuroo walked past you and didn’t look back. Kenma and Aki stood a few yards ahead, watching the scene unfold. You now stared down at your shoes, fists clenched at your sides.

Kuroo barely talked to you for the rest of the night.

The tension made the entirety of the night unbearable. Even Kenma and Aki were having trouble enjoying themselves. You’d barely touched your boba by the time everyone else had finished, so you ended up taking it home with you.

The journey home was even more awkward. Kuroo and you stood a fair distance from one another on the train. He kept himself focused on his phone, while you quietly played a game. Alone. Once you’d made it to your neighborhood, you returned Kuroo’s hoodie with a quiet “thank you”, which he responded to with a grunt. Parting ways with Kuroo and Kenma was nothing more than a “goodnight”, then you and Aki continued to walk the rest of the way in silence.

You fell asleep regretting not texting Kuroo an apology or even the usual goodnight text. He didn’t text you either.

Saturday felt like it was dragging on. You stayed at home, huddled up in a blanket on your couch and watching a shoujo anime but not actually paying much attention. Your phone sat on the coffee table and hadn’t buzzed (or meowed) all day. It was selfish to expect a text from him, you knew it. For the entire week you’d kept him at a distance. It seemed easier than acknowledging your jealousy. Maybe if you’d just admitted to your feelings, then none of this would have happened.

The fine line you were usually dancing on felt like it’d snapped, and now you were dancing alone.

You glanced at your phone again. Still no notifications. You leaned forward, grabbing it. You opened up Kuroo’s contact and eyed the last message he’d sent you. It was from yesterday morning.

**Kuro | 7:48 AM – i’m gonna try one of the new boba flavors, you should too**

**Me | 7:48 AM – why can’t I just try yours?**

**Kuro | 7:49 AM – ah, smart plan. you get one of the new flavors and i’ll get the other and we’ll share**

What a completely blown opportunity. Neither you nor Kuroo had ended up trying the new boba flavors, instead opting to get your usuals. You bit your bottom lip before it began trembling. Your fingers began moving on the keyboard. You wrote something, deleted it, wrote something, deleted it. Finally, you settled on a simple message.

**Me | 4:12 PM – Hey. I’m sorry**

You stared at your screen like you expected him to respond at that exact second. No response came. After five minutes, you decided it wasn’t worth staring at your phone anymore. You put the device aside and stood up. You went to grab a snack from the kitchen.

You wished your parents weren’t away on another trip. Even having their presence here might help to distract from the dull ache in your chest.

The rest of the night passed. You finished the anime in the later hours of the night. Kuroo never responded to your text, leaving you feeling completely abandoned. It wasn’t fair to expect him to forgive you immediately, and through a text nonetheless. You’d have to give him a proper apology come Monday morning.

You drudged your way to your room. Maybe a warm shower would help to soothe your aching mind and heart. You grabbed some clothes, then entered the bathroom. 

Unfortunately, the shower didn’t seem to help much.

You walked out of the bathroom, drying your hair with a towel. You grabbed your phone off your bed, hoping for a notification with the name of Kuroo on it. To your surprise, there was a message from five minutes ago.

**Kuro | 11:23 PM – i’m outside**

At the same time, you heard the sound of something hitting your window. You jumped, then walked to the window. You looked outside and found the very familiar figure of the volleyball captain standing in your yard. He was wearing sweatpants, a hoodie, and the beanie you’d knitted for him. He looked handsome all while being dressed like a homeless man. He tossed another rock at your window, even though he’d obviously seen you.

You opened the window, sitting down in the seat in front of it.

“Finally. Been out here for five minutes!” Kuroo raised his arm, which had a hoodie draped over it. “Want to take a walk?”

You stared at him in silent shock. He stared back, a small smile playing at his lips. You shut the window and jumped to your feet. You yanked on your cat-ear beanie, along with some sneakers, then hurried downstairs.

Kuroo was already waiting by your front door as you came out. He gave you the hoodie. You hesitated to take it. Kuroo stepped closer and pulled the hoodie over your head. He adjusted your beanie once you were fitted snugly inside the giant fabric.

Without hesitation, Kuroo grabbed your hand and began walking. You trailed after him, face burning. You had no idea what to say to him. This was so unexpected. Kuroo stared ahead, not letting go of your hand. Neither of you said anything for a long time.

“Kuroo. . .” you spoke finally. “I’m sorry.”

He glanced at you. You stopped walking.

“I’m sorry. I know I’ve been acting weird lately. I didn’t mean to take it out on you,” you stated, squeezing his hand.

Kuroo was quiet for a few moments, before he let out a sigh. He stepped closer.

“I wasn’t mad because you were acting weird,” he mumbled, “I was mad because you wouldn’t tell me what was wrong and I couldn’t help you.”

Kuroo’s arms wrapped around you. You were pulled into his chest, into his warmth. Immediately, almost like a reflex, you returned the embrace and wrapped your arms around his back. Tears welled in your eyes.

“I thought someone was telling you stuff to make you doubt yourself,” he admitted, “you were changing your uniform and I didn’t like it when everyone could see. Then you started distancing yourself and I thought that I did something wrong.”

You sniffled quietly. You buried your face against his chest, arms tightening around him. It was time to confess, and you knew it. If you didn’t do it now, you never would.

“It wasn’t you. It was me. I wasn’t good enough for you. I thought if I changed how I dressed then you’d notice me but then I felt bad for thinking like that so I pushed you away. I felt like that girl was going to take you away from me and it felt easier to just distance myself before it hurt.”

You were crying now, shoulders trembling with fear of what he’d say next. Tears spilled from your eyes uncontrollably. You couldn’t face him.

“Good enough for me?” he whispered finally.

Kuroo grabbed your shoulders, pushing you away slightly to stare at your face. You stared back, eyes locked onto his. His face was illuminated by the moonlight. Shadows outlined his jawline and his features, making him more handsome than you’d ever seen him. Your heart pounded in your chest.

“Good enough for me?! Are you kidding, (Y/n)?” he laughed, but it held no humor. “You’ve always been good enough. Too good, actually. You’re out of my league, too good for someone like me to come around and taint.”

You recalled your conversation with him a long time ago, and when you’d briefly wondered if he was ever bothered by them. It seemed he was. His words caused a pain to blossom in your chest. _Taint you?_ Was that what he believed? Was that why he never asked you to be his? Was that he danced with you on that line between friends and something more, all because he was worried his name would drag you down.

“Kuroo,” you whispered. “You were always the one was too good for me. You could never taint me.”

You reached up, cupping his cheeks. He wasn’t crying, but his glossy eyes said more to you than words ever would. You trailed the pads of your thumbs gently over his cheekbones and admired his entire face, even the bruise on his nose.

You’d seen Kuroo Tetsurou. But you were really **_seeing_** him now. You were seeing the glossiness to his eyes, and the tremble of his lips as he spoke. You were seeing the freckle just below his hairline and the tiny scar at the edge of his nostril. You were seeing Kuroo Tetsurou. He felt more real to you than he’d ever felt before. He felt like a home you’d been reaching to grasp for the last three years.

Kuroo let out a breathy chuckle, his eyes scanning over your features.

“I guess we’re both idiots,” he murmured.

Kuroo brought hand up to cup your cheek. His skin was extremely warm. Kuroo brushed his thumb gently below your eye, collecting a tear you hadn’t realized had fallen. He stepped closer, presence overwhelming and surrounding you completely. His other arm came to wrap around your waist, pulling you to him further. He leaned down. His warm, minty breath fanned over your face.

“(Y/n),” he murmured, voice low, “can I kiss you?”

Your heart was pounding in your sternum. You knew he could feel it where your chest pressed against his because you could feel his own rapidly beating heart. You brought your hands up to clutch at his hoodie.

“Y-Yes.”

You’d barely gotten the whole word out before his lips were against yours. You pulled him closer to you, if even possible. His lips molded perfectly to yours, and the warmth that made up Kuroo Tetsurou made your head spin in the best way possible. He was everything to you, had been for a long time.

This kiss was nothing like the one from his birthday party. It was passionate, loving. It didn’t taste like alcohol. Kuroo wasn’t kissing you because of a dare, or because alcohol was dulling his senses and making him into someone he wasn’t. This kiss was Kuroo Tetsurou, kissing you entirely of his own desire. A desire you gave back tenfold.

You snaked your arms around his neck. You tangled your fingers into the short, dark hair at the back of his head while his lips moved in sync with yours. You wanted more from him, all of what he’d give because you’d give everything for him. His tongue swiped over your bottom lip, warm, before he pushed it between your parting lips as you made room for him.

Your hands were shaking uncontrollably. You wanted this moment to last forever, to taste him forever. He was a fresh breath of air, and he tasted like warm honey and mint. His hair was soft as you carded your fingers through it, unlike what you’d initially expected it to feel like. Your chest was pressed against his. You could feel the way his heart pounded frantically below his sternum, certain that he could feel the same in yours. He was warm. His warmth made you forget about the cold air surrounding you.

Unfortunately, your lungs weren’t content with just his kiss. You were forced to pull away for a breath. Kuroo kept his arms around you, tight. He leaned down to rest his head on your shoulder. You clung onto him, tears building in your eyes and a breathy laugh escaping you. His body was big, and his height was always towering over your own, but in this moment, he felt small to you. You felt like you could cradle him in your arms and hold him just like this, forever.

“I’m in love with you, (Y/n),” he said, breaking the silence at last, with words you’d only ever heard in your dreams.

Your arms tightened around him. You bit your bottom lip, stifling the cry that threatened to spill from your lips. You’d never felt so happy in your whole life. Kuroo Tetsurou loved you back. He said he was in love with you.

“I-I love you too, Tetsurou,” you spoke in a whisper, feeling like if you spoke any louder, you’d break this moment with him.

After a while, you pulled out of his hold. You wiped your eyes with the sleeves of his hoodie, feeling bad but he didn’t seem to care. He was elated, golden eyes shining as he stared at you like you were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. You looked up at him.

_Maybe_ , you decided, _you really were the most beautiful thing to him._

You reached for his hand. He grabbed it, entwining his fingers with yours. He brought your knuckles to his lips, which were still a bit swollen from the kiss. Your cheeks burned at the action. Despite your embarrassment, you were grinning. You began walking back toward your home, tugging him along.

“C’mon,” you turned back to him, “I’ll make us hot chocolates.”

Kuroo grinned. He squeezed your hand, then let go. The next thing you knew, you were swept up in his strong arms. You squealed, arms quickly flying around his neck as a reflex even though you knew he’d never drop you. Laughter bubbled up in your chest as he carried you. His arms were folded under your butt, holding you against him front-first. You naturally wrapped your legs around his waist and rested your chin on his shoulder. You tangled your fingers in his hair at the back of his head, unable to resist brushing your fingers through the tangles.

“What’s it feel like to finally be tall?” Kuroo teased.

You gave a playful tug to his hair. He chuckled.

“It almost sounds like you’re implying that I’m short,” you stated, “but you’d be wrong because I’m not short, you’re just tall.”

Kuroo let out a hum. “I think you’re just short and I’m tall. Perfect height difference for me to carry you like this.”

He turned his head to nuzzle his nose against the side of your neck. You giggled, blushing from the feeling. You playfully smacked the back of his head.

“Hey, pay attention ahead! You’re the driver!” you teased.

Kuroo’s ridiculous laugh bubbled up from his lips. You smiled wider, tightening your legs around his waist. 

He carried you all the way home, where the two of you settled down on your couch. Hot chocolate making was temporarily abandoned in favor of savoring the warmth of one another. You laid on his chest, legs tangled with his while you stared at his face. Kuroo did the same. One of his hands lazily played with a strand of your hair, twirling it around his finger occasionally.

“I should make hot chocolates,” you murmured, but had no intention of getting up.

Kuroo smiled. His arm tightened around you.

“Probably.”

After a while of simply admiring him, you finally parted from his arms. He let out a groan, reaching forward to drag you back. You dodged him with a laugh and headed toward your kitchen to get to work on the hot chocolates. As much as you liked staring at him, his nose was still red from the cold outside, and you didn’t want to risk him getting sick.

You got to work on making the drinks, warming the chocolate mixture in a pan. Two big arms wrapped around you from behind. Your face flushed instantly. His chest pressed into your back as he leaned forward to observe. This moment reminded you of the first time you’d made him hot chocolates; the day you’d found out all his rumors were false.

“So, kitten,” he nuzzled his nose into the side of your neck, “why _were_ you acting weird? Was it because of those girls who started coming to practice?”

You could practically hear the smirk in his voice. You knew exactly what he was wanting you to confess to. In hopes of avoiding the topic, you stayed focused on your hot chocolate. Unfortunately, your new boyfriend was not content.

_Boyfriend. . . that’s what he was, wasn’t he?_

Kuroo’s fingers carefully moved your hair away from your neck, exposing the skin. He pressed his lips into the space just below your jawline. Your cheeks burned and you let out a small squeak as he sucked on the flesh. The spoon fell from your fingers and your legs wobbled. Kuroo’s arms caught you before you could fall. You had your hands on the handle of the oven, eyes wide.

“C’mon, tell me, you were jealous, weren’t you?” he taunted.

You turned to him, eyes narrowing. He only smirked wider.

“F-Fine, yes, I was jealous,” you grumbled. “I thought you’d end up leaving her because she. . . she had bigger boobs.”

Kuroo blinked a few times. If your cheeks could get in redder, you were pretty sure they would. Then, he laughed. His arms tightened around your middle, slithering upward and _almost_ brushing over your chest. You held your breath when he crossed his big arms over your chest and held your shoulders instead.

“I prefer you over boobs. . .” he chuckled. “Besides, I like your boobs.”

You swatted the side of his head, then turned back to the hot chocolate. He chuckled beside your ear, continuing to hold you. The affection was unfamiliar to you, but not unwelcome. In fact, you loved it.

Kuroo nuzzled into your neck again, letting out a soft sigh against your skin.

“And maybe I was jealous too. . .” he grumbled, hesitantly. “Of Daisho, and then of all the boys staring at you when you changed your uniform.”

You smiled slightly. You wanted to tease him, but couldn’t find the right words. Besides, this moment was too precious to disrupt. Instead, you poured the hot chocolate mixture into two mugs. You slipped out of Kuroo’s arms to put two giant marshmallows in each, then handed Kuroo the one with your favorite mug.

Kuroo’s eyes shined as he stared down at the delicious drink. You laughed, then grabbed his hand and headed back to the living room. There, the two of you curled up with one another under a blanket, cradling two hot chocolates and watching the same shoujo anime you’d been watching earlier. It wasn’t his thing, but he didn’t say a thing. Eventually, though, you changed it to a volleyball anime just for him.

By the time your chocolate treats were finished, your eyelids were slowly sinking. You grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to your chin with a yawn. His arms wrapped around you, resting over your belly, and his head fell onto your shoulder; exactly the position from the bathtub during his party.

You fell asleep in his hold, the warmth of his body and presence sinking into you and filling you with a weightlessness you’d never felt before. It made your eyes fall shut completely. The safety of his embrace lulled you into a peaceful slumber. You were asleep as he pressed his lips to your shoulder.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Then, he too fell asleep, eyes lulled shut by the steady breathing of the girl in his arms.


	7. A/n: Announcement

I hope you can all forgive the author's note!

First off, I'd like to thank you all for sticking by me through this story! What started as a comfort one-shot turned into a story I'm very proud of, so I'd like to thank you all for making that possible. It means a lot to have people stick with me, even if the story is short and sweet. You guys definitely helped make it possible for it to be a continuation so I can't thank you enough. The next and last chapter will be coming out Saturday night and will be putting a wholesome ending to this story. I've enjoyed writing this so much that it's honestly difficult to finally put an end to it. So, I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I do!

As for the announcement; there is a smut for this story! It's been published to a series with this story, so please go check it out for those of you who wanted a smut! I decided to publish it separately from this so those who didn't want to read the smut weren't obligated to. There were a lot of people who wanted this to continue to be something fluffy, and while I agreed, I also wanted those of you to enjoy a steamier side to the relationship so it is published separately. That, and it's decently long so I hope you will go check it out! It's definitely the fluffiest smut I've ever written, so I enjoyed it honestly.

As always, you guys are amazing! I hope you'll check out my other works and you can definitely expect a lot more Haikyuu works coming out. I'm beginning work on an Atsumu Miya x reader story, along with some other stuff that will hopefully be coming out soon as well.

Thank you all! You're beautiful and amazing!

Stay healthy and safe!

\--Author-san


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x gamer!fem!reader
> 
> Word Count: 7,602
> 
> Genre: Fluff
> 
> Warnings: Some language, mentions of nudity but no smut, time-skip Kuroo, unedited chapter
> 
> A/n: At the end of the story 😊

A soft glow coming in from the window woke you slowly. You let out a soft hum, curling closer to the warmth at your side. You slowly opened your eyes. They fell upon the sleeping face of Kuroo Tetsurou. A small smile formed on your lips. You brought a hand up, gently trailing your fingers through his messy hair. You pushed his bangs away from his face to see all of him.

You could stay like this forever. Unfortunately, the world wouldn’t wait. Kuroo would have to go to work in an hour, and you had groceries that urgently needed to be bought.

“Tetsurou,” you murmured. “You need to wake up.”

The man let out a groan. He rolled over, big arms tightening around you and pulling you flush against his bare chest. You rolled your eyes.

“I don’t wanna. . .” he grumbled, nuzzling his face into the side of your neck, where he placed a gentle kiss.

You pushed lightly at his chest. Over the years, despite no longer playing on a volleyball team, he’d kept himself in great shape. Of course, it wasn’t like Kuroo to let his health deteriorate just because he wasn’t playing the sport.

Well, he _was_ occasionally playing, but more as a past time.

“Tetsu, you have to go to work,” you continued to push at his chest.

“I told you I don’t wanna. . . Find a sugar daddy who can support us both. . .” he mumbled.

You pinched his nipple with a huff. He jolted away from you with a very manly squeak.

“You are my sugar daddy, Tetsurou,” you joked, getting out of bed, “hurry and get ready. You’re supposed to be meeting with MSBY today and I need to go get groceries.”

Kuroo rubbed his temple tiredly.

“You’re so mean to me, chibi-chan. All you want is my money,” he whined.

You smirked, sticking your tongue out at him, before heading to the bathroom for a shower. It wouldn’t be long before your boyfriend would join you, as usual, so you left him to sulk on the bed for a few minutes. You hummed softly, washing your body beneath the warm water, thinking about the last few years you’d spent with Kuroo.

You remembered Kenma’s reaction when he found out that you’d both finally gotten together. It was a mixture of disgust and pride, before he said “you’re welcome” and then stalked off to continue his game while Kuroo yelled about him not helping with anything. Your poor boyfriend was ever the clueless one, apparently missing out on every time Kenma intervened in order to “guide” his best friend into finally asking you out. (As it turned out, it had been Kenma’s idea for Kuroo to come throw rocks at your window)

The last few months of high school had been difficult for many reasons. Your new relationship was strong, but it was hard for you and Kuroo to make time for one another. It wasn’t until after Nationals that Kuroo could see you more. It had been hard for him to lose to Karasuno and realize that it was his last game for Nekoma. Even now you sometimes found him staring fondly at the jersey in his closet, reliving memories of his volleyball years. Still, he’d made the choice to end his volleyball career and become someone who helped others into the sport.

Two arms wrapped around you from behind. Kuroo leaned down, nuzzling his nose against the side of your neck.

“What are you thinking about?” he murmured.

You turned your face away so he couldn’t see your blush. Even now, after years of being together, your heart still pounded every time he pressed himself against you.

“Nothing.”

“You’re probably thinking about how hot I look right now,” he chuckled.

You smacked his bicep.

“I’m thinking about how badly you needed a shower. Crouch a bit so I can wash your hair,” you half-joked.

“Wow, so romantic.” he grumbled.

Kuroo pouted. He did as you said, letting you wash his hair. He had his eyes shut as you kneaded the soap into his dark locks. You playfully pushed his bangs back, revealing his whole face to you. He opened one eye to look at you, a smirk tugging the corners of his lips upward. He looked like a completely different person with his hair pushed back, considering he’d had the same “hairstyle” for as long as you’d known him. Still, he was your Tetsurou.

“I want to make your hair into a giant spike.”

Yep, definitely the same Tetsurou.

You carefully wiped the soap threatening to fall in his eye, and then lowered your arms so he could turn your hair into a spike, snickering. He got the shampoo (way too much of it, in fact, you’d definitely have to buy more today), and began rubbing it into your hair.

As promised, he put your hair into a giant spike, while you reached up to give him tiny spikes in his hair. The both of you laughed. Kuroo even managed to sneak in a picture since he’d left his phone on the bathroom sink, which resulted in him dropping his phone in the shower. Queue major panic as he practically leapt out of the shower to put his phone in rice.

“Kuroo! You’re still soaking wet!” you yelled after him. “And naked!”

After that eventful morning, you went downstairs to make breakfast while Kuroo finished his shower and got ready for work. You wore one of his t-shirts (it was a periodic table one from his high school years that didn’t fit him anymore but he refused to get rid of), and some sweatpants. You wandered the kitchen, attempting to find something to cook for your probably starving boyfriend.

Unfortunately, the two of you sucked at buying groceries.

You settled for some eggs and the last two pieces of toast from the loaf. Grocery shopping would definitely have to be done today or you and him would be starving tonight.

“Smells great,” Kuroo commented as he came into the kitchen.

You looked at him. He was dressed in a suit, hair now back to it’s usual poofy, spikey-ness. How it still looked like that after having it pressed down in the shower was still a mystery to you. He grabbed two glasses from the cupboard, then went to the fridge and filled them with ice and water. He was taller than he’d been in high school, now standing at a good 6’5. Frankly, he was your giant who stomped around the kitchen.

You turned back to the eggs, finishing them up. You put them on a plate, along with the two pieces of toast. Kuroo raised a brow as you handed him the plate.

“Where’s yours?”

You sat down on a stool at the island, resting your chin in your palm.

“I’ll make myself a poptart. There was only a few eggs and two pieces of toast, so you have them.”

Kuroo, obviously not content with this, grabbed you by the hips and pulled you onto his lap. He shoved one of the pieces of toast into your mouth.

“We’re sharing this then,” he huffed, then grabbed the other piece of toast and took a big bite.

Your heart swelled. You beamed, happily eating your toast while hooking your leg with one of his long ones. Kuroo and you shared the breakfast. No matter how much you wanted to protest against stealing his meal (since he’d definitely need it more than you, he was a giant of a man, after all), you didn’t want to ruin this moment with him. Besides, he’d never listen anyway.

Soon enough, the breakfast was finished. Kuroo retrieved his phone from the bag of rice, discovering that it still worked (it probably would have worked without the rice). He grinned, showing you the goofy picture he’d taken earlier.

You rolled your eyes, smiling. “You’re a dork. Now hurry and go to work before you’re late and you disappoint Bokuto.”

Kuroo pouted. “Trying to get rid of me after such a wholesome morning?”

You playfully pushed him toward the door.

“Yes, so I can go get ready and buy groceries without you distracting me.”

Kuroo chuckled. He didn’t argue with you. Instead, he turned and grabbed you by the waist. He leaned down, pressing his lips to yours. The kiss was short-lived, but it still felt as precious to you as your first kiss with him had been. He beamed, staring at your face.

“I’ll see you tonight. Love you.” He waved, then hurried out to get to work.

You stood in the hall, glowing with happiness.

“Love you too, Tetsu. . .”

The rest of the day was quiet, as it usually was without Kuroo. You left to buy groceries, which was probably a bigger hassle than it should have been. Thank god Akaashi was free or you’d probably never have gotten it hauled up the stairs to yours and Kuroo’s apartment.

You huffed, wiping sweat from your brow. Akaashi placed the last two bags on the island counter. You looked at him.

Somehow he’d fit his way into becoming one of your closest friends. It took a few years, and a lot of pushing from Bokuto and Kuroo, but now he’d slotted himself into being your best friend, along with Kenma and Aki, of course.

“How are you and Bokuto?” you asked, opening the pantry door to begin putting things away.

Akaashi opened your fridge and began putting the refrigerated items away. He looked less than pleased at the emptiness of it. Concern and disappointment were evident on his expression. You pretended not to see it since explaining to him that it was Kuroo who would steal food in the late hours of the night. Akaashi could probably relate since he was living with beefy Bokuto.

“We’re good. I finally got him to start washing his own sweaty work-out clothes,” Akaashi huffed.

You snorted.

“And he forgot his wedding ring on the top shelf in the fridge. I finally just made him wear it on a necklace since he can never seem to keep it on his finger. Honestly, he should just get it tattooed.”

You turned to your friend, brow raised. He shrugged, clearly not knowing the answer to Bokuto’s randomness. You continued putting things away with a soft laugh. It was easy to get lost in your thoughts after hearing Akaashi talk about his marriage. They’d gotten engaged practically out of high school. At first it wasn’t a problem, but now you found yourself becoming envious of their marriage. Kuroo had yet to propose.

“How about you and Kuroo?” Akaashi finally asked, as if he could hear your thoughts.

You bit your bottom lip.

“We’re good. Really good, actually.” You shut the pantry door once everything was put away.

“But?” Akaashi pushed, brow raised.

“But. . . he still hasn’t proposed. We’re living together, practically the same as a married couple, but it’s not official. I’m happy, I really am, it’s just. . .”

“Not the same,” he finished for you.

You nodded, embarrassed at the confession. Of course, this was Akaashi. He wouldn’t say a word to anyone, unlike Kenma and Aki who would subtly push Kuroo in the direction of inevitably proposing to you. While you wanted him to, you wanted him to do it in his own time.

“Yeah, I understand. I mean, I can’t really relate but,” he paused, playing with the golden band on his finger, “Bokuto and I were together for a long time before he proposed. I think Kuroo is just taking his time so he can do it right.”

You could understand that, and you knew he was right. Kuroo was never in much of a rush for anything. You weren’t either, honestly, but it had been years and marriage with the man who was your soulmate had been tugging at your mind for longer than you’d like to admit.

“You’re right. Thanks, ‘Kaashi.”

Your friend offered a small smile. He patted your back, then glanced at the watch on his wrist.

“I should get going. Bokuto will be going home soon and I want to have dinner started,” he said.

You nodded. You walked him to the door, said a goodbye, and then watched him go. With a sigh, you shut the door and turned back to the apartment.

Kuroo wouldn’t be home for a few hours, probably. He usually didn’t finish until it was fairly late, so you decided to clean around the apartment while you waited for your boyfriend. It wasn’t particularly messy, but Kuroo’s boxers hanging from the corner of the TV were a nuisance.

_He does this on purpose. . ._

You huffed, grabbing the undergarments. You grabbed any of his other laundry laying about and went took it to the clothes hamper in the bedroom. The bedroom was even more of a mess, though you could also take the blame for that. So, you cleaned.

By the time you’d nearly finished, Kuroo was entering and you could hear his footsteps from the other room (cause he’s a rude ass who doesn’t take off his shoes when coming inside).

“Take off your shoes!” you yelled, straightening up the closet a bit.

“Dammit. . .” he grumbled stubbornly.

You smirked, then turned to fix some of his hangers which were crooked. The bedroom door opened and in stepped your tired boyfriend. He saw you digging about in the closet and dropped his briefcase. He hurried forward, snatching you up in his big arms.

“Kuroo!” you yelped, squirming in his hold. “I’m trying to finish straightening up! Get off!”

He nuzzled his face against the side of your neck, snickering. You considered headbutting him, though ultimately you came to the conclusion that it would hurt you more than it’d hurt him. He had a thick skull.

“Tetsurou, let me finish,” you huffed, planting your feet flat on his thighs.

You angled yourself just right, then pushed forward from his legs with all your strength. You jumped out of his arms, landing without grace on the carpeted floor of the bedroom. You glared at him, butt hurting and probably bruise from how you’d landed. He looked surprised, eyes darting from you and his arms.

“Baby,” he whined, “you’re so mean to me.”

You rolled your eyes. You got off the floor and brushed off your behind, then jumped to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“You’re the one who’s mean by distracting me while I clean!” you stated.

Kuroo chuckled. “You were digging through my stuff. I had to stop you.”

You raised a brow.

“Tetsu, I always dig through your stuff. We live together.”

Kuroo shrugged. He slipped past you and reached into the closet. He plucked something from inside and stuffed it in his pocket. He turned back to you with a nonchalant grin, but you were very suspicious of his behavior. Nonchalant Kuroo was never a good Kuroo.

You took a step away. He took a step forward. Another step back. Another step forward. His smirk widened with each step.

“Kuroo, don’t you dare. . .”

“Don’t~ Do~ What~?” Kuroo raised his arms slowly, prepared to grab you and throw you onto the bed for an onslaught of tickles.

Just as he leapt forward, you ducked. Then, after you’d escaped his attack, you ran. Laughter spilled from your lips when Kuroo came running after you. You sped out from the bedroom. Kuroo chased you, his socks slipping on the hardwood floors of the kitchen where you’d ran to.

You grinned, staring at him from the other side of the island. He stared back, palms flat on the granite surface. He grinned like a maniac, eyes narrowed to slits like a predator to prey.

“Tetsurou, I won’t make dinner,” you threatened.

His eyes practically glowed.

“Jokes on you because then I’ll try to make dinner and I’ll burn the place down.” He challenged.

“Damn you. . .”

You moved to run again. He moved with you, so you immediately stopped. He raised a brow.

“Gonna take off again, kitten? I’ll catch you~”

He would. Kuroo’s legs were much longer, and he was a fast runner. You were honestly surprised that you even managed to evade him enough to reach the kitchen.

“Give me a ten second head start?” you tried.

Kuroo’s smirk widened. “No chance.”

You glanced around, trying to strategize a way to escape him from catching you. Taking the opportunity, Kuroo vaulted himself over the island. You tried to dodged, but his arms were around you before you could. Your laughter rang through the whole kitchen, and so did his. Your back was pressed into the counter and his fingers were attacking your sides. You tried to kick him off but he used his weight to pin them.

“Tetsurou!” you squealed through laughter. “S-Stop! Stop, please stop!”

Kuroo grinned wider. He stopped after a few moments, staring down at your heaving form still riddled with giggles. You stared up at his face, trying to look angry but it was hard when he stared at you like you were an angel.

“You’re the worst,” you huffed.

Kuroo chuckled. His fingers taunted your sides.

“I’m what~?”

“A saint! My one true love!” you quickly changed your tone.

Kuroo laughed, and so did you. His ridiculous laugh was contagious. You rested on the counter for a few moments. He adjusted his position so he stood between your legs, which were now wrapped around his waist.

“So, what’s for dinner?” he asked, rubbing your outer thigh.

You hummed, thinking. “Barbequed cat.”

Kuroo deadpanned. “Ha ha, very funny.”

You snickered. He helped you back to your feet. The two of you turned to digging the fridge, pulling out ingredients to make a meal out of, smiling the whole time.

You decided that you were quite content with things staying just exactly like this. Marriage didn’t define yours and Kuroo’s relationship. You’d wait until he was ready, and if he never was, then that was alright too.

Over the next week, Kuroo was busy with work. He came home very late in the evening, later than usual, and was always exhausted. You were always waiting for him with a cooked meal and sometimes a warm bath where you could massage his aching muscles, just like now.

Kuroo’s head rested on your shoulder as you massaged his shoulders. You sat between his long legs while his arms were wrapped tightly around you.

“Bo invited us to the beach tomorrow with MSBY,” he spoke, voice heavy with tiredness.

“That sounds fun, but maybe you’ll want to rest for the weekend?”

Kuroo shook his head. “I’d rather go enjoy time at the beach. Plus, you’ll be wearing the new bathing suit I got you a few weeks ago, right?”

You rolled your eyes. “You threw away my other bathing suit so I have to.”

Kuroo snorted.

The next morning, too early for your liking, you were headed out with Kuroo to the beach. You sat in the passenger seat while he drove, digging through your bag to make sure you brought the sunscreen.

“Are you planning on swimming?” Kuroo asked, focused on the road.

“Maybe a little bit, but I’d rather watch all you guys play beach volleyball.” you stated.

Kuroo gave you a side glance. “You guys?”

You slapped his bicep. “Don’t be jealous. Of course, I’m going to be watching the four professional volleyball players.”

He pouted. “But babe~ I’m way better.”

You scoffed. “Sure, babe.”

The beach, thankfully, wasn’t as busy as you’d expected it to be. Bokuto and Akaashi were already there when you arrived. Bokuto was putting up his volleyball net (though, he was looking a little tangled and his poor husband just couldn’t handle him right now). Kuroo threw off his shirt, tossing it to you, and took off to help his best friend. You caught his t-shirt and stuffed it into the beach bag you’d prepared. You went with Akaashi to set up an umbrella and some towels to lay on.

“Tetsurou!” you called, sitting down on your towel.

Your boyfriend’s head snapped toward you. “Yeah, babe?”

You waved the sunscreen bottle. Kuroo had naturally tan skin, but he still ran the risk of getting sunburnt. You’d seen it happen too many times to let it slide. Mostly, you didn’t want to deal with his whining tonight after he’d been thoroughly wrecked by the sun.

Kuroo, after successfully untangling Bokuto, jogged over to you. He plopped down on the towel right in front of you. You cringed as he already had sand everywhere, but didn’t say anything. You began applying the sunscreen to Kuroo’s skin. It was already warm. You suspected he’d probably already gotten a little burnt.

“Kuroo-senpai!”

You and Kuroo turned to the sound of Hinata’s squeaky voice. He beamed, running over to you both. Kenma lazily trailed behind him, buried beneath a hoodie but at least he was wearing shorts.

“I didn’t realize you were going to be here!” Hinata stated, holding a beach volleyball under his arm.

You applied sunscreen to the back of Kuroo’s neck.

“Bokuto invited me,” Kuroo chuckled, “came to kick your guys’ ass in beach volleyball.”

“Says the non-pro,” Atsumu’s voice piped up.

Kuroo stretched out his leg to trip the blond as he strolled past to join Bokuto at the net. Successful in his mission, Atsumu fell face-first into the sand. He spit out sand, brown eyes narrowing in on your smirking boyfriend.

“Ya damn prick!” he hissed.

To avenge poor Tsumu, you slapped Kuroo’s back sunscreen covered back. He winced, shooting you a glare. You smirked in response.

“Thanks, girly,” Atsumu snickered. “See, at least she’s got m’ back.”

After applying sunscreen to Kuroo’s chest, arms, and legs, he was quick to race Atsumu and Hinata to the net. You put sunscreen on your own skin after throwing off your shorts and t-shirt. Akaashi had already done the hassle of getting poor, pale Bokuto sunscreened up but the poor guy was already burnt. He sighed from the towel beside yours.

“He’s going to be a pain to deal with tonight,” Akaashi mumbled.

You snickered. Kenma took a seat beside you on your towel, too lazy to grab his own.

The both of you turned to focus on the boys’ playing volleyball. Sakusa had joined, along with some other members of the team. Even though you’d told your boyfriend that you’d be focused on the pros, you barely paid them any mind. Kuroo was still the talented middle blocker from his Nekoma years, shutting down one of Sakusa’s spikes.

You thought back to high school, back to Nekoma’s loss at Nationals and Kuroo’s very last game. It was hard to believe how many years ago that was.

~+~

_“Tetsurou. . .” you murmured, cradling him._

_He never cried. Even now, in the locker room after the rest of his team had left. His bottom lip wobbled, and his eyes were glossy and brimmed with tears that he rushed to blink away._

_“Tetsurou,” you repeated._

_This time, you cupped his cheeks to raise his head and make him look at you. He stared at you. The glassiness to his eyes made your heart ache. He was blaming himself for this, putting the loss on his shoulders because he was the captain. Your relationship might still have been fresh, but you knew him well enough now to see that._

_You brushed your thumbs beneath his eyes, gathering the tears caught in his eyelashes. He averted his gaze quickly._

_“You did so well out there, Tetsurou,” you said._

_He said nothing. You didn’t expect him to. If he spoke now then he’d definitely start crying._

_You pulled him to your chest, holding him close. His arms wrapped around your shoulders, squeezing you. He felt small, just for these few moments. Small and fragile. He was someone who knew this was his last game with the best team he’d ever have._

~+~

Staring at him now, you found it hard to believe that six years had passed since that moment. He was grinning, sweat gleaming on his skin as the hot sun beat down on him. He was taller, built a little thicker, and he’d obviously matured into a man. Even so, he looked just the same as back then. He was the same teenager you’d met during your first-year of high school and fallen in love with (despite refusing to admit it for three years).

You smiled fondly, hugging your knees to your chest. You tried to think back on the day you’d first encountered him, sitting at his desk while scanning a chemistry notebook when he was still a skinny first-year. The memory came easily. It was always safely tucked into the back of your mind.

~+~

_You scurried through the hallways, carefully avoiding the older kids of Nekoma. Your cheeks were red and your heart was pounding. You expected everyone to be staring at you. Of course, no one was paying attention to the small first-year girl._

_You glanced down at the paper in your hands. It gave the room number, and general directions to where you’d be going. Then, you looked at the sign above the door you now stood outside of. The room number matched._ **_Finally._ **

**** _You took a deep breath. You wanted your experience at your new high school to be a good one._

_After a bit of mental preparation, you opened the door and stepped into the classroom. Naturally, the room full of young teenagers was bustling and chaotic. There were two boys at the front of the room throwing paper balls at some of the girls hovering by the door. Their attempts at flirting, you supposed. Standing by the window was a group of snobby-looking girls whispering something while glancing at the far-left corner. You followed their gaze, landing upon the only quiet teenage boy in the whole room._

_He sat at his desk, hunched over with his chin tucked lazily in his palm. His eyes trailed over the words printed on the page he was reading. It didn’t take you long to figure out it was the chemistry textbook for your first-hour. He casually dodged a paper ball that whizzed past his head, not even glancing up. He had crazy, spiked and tangled hair. His uniform was barely put-together, almost like he couldn’t be bothered to have gotten ready that morning. Even his tie wasn’t tied properly, hanging loosely around his neck._

_Your lips parted. You stared at the boy, heart pounding in your chest. You squeezed the strap of your bag, urging your body to just go to him and say hello. Just a single hello—_

_“Do you see him?” one of the girls giggled. “He’s a total mess. You’d think he’d care even a little about how he looked. Look at his hair, is that his bedhead?”_

_“Yeah, he’s so skinny. He’s not even that tall and his face looks so angry. . .”_

_“And chemistry textbook? Before school has even started? What a nerd.”_

_With high school came mean kids. You wanted to step up and say something before they took it too far. Alas, your words escaped you, and you didn’t speak up. Instead you looked back to the boy._

_What were they talking about? He wasn’t that skinny, and his hair looked cute on him. Granted, he looked angry, but probably because they were talking so loudly about his appearance. You couldn’t help but gush a little. He was very handsome; you’d say even the most handsome boy in the class._

_Two golden pools met yours. Your breath caught in your throat. He was staring at you now, a single brow raised. You looked away, heart pounding as you hurried to your assigned seat. Thankfully, the teacher game in just before the boy could approach you to ask why you were staring._

_He was in your mind for the rest of the day. And every day after that._

~+~

You rolled over onto your belly. Your arm brushed Kenma’s leg as you turned. He looked up from his game console to spare you a glance. It was easy to recognize the emotion on your face. Often enough, he found his best friend staring at you the same way.

Kenma waved a hand in front of your face. You blinked a few times, knocked out of your daze. You looked up at him.

“If you stare any longer you’ll burn holes into his skin,” he mumbled.

Your cheeks flushed. You looked away, scoffing. You rested your chin on your hands. Akaashi chuckled, and Kenma even smirked a little.

“Shut up. Both of you. . . You guys act like you don’t stare and Bokuto and Hinata the same way.”

You looked back to your boyfriend when they didn’t answer, knowing you’d won. He was hunched over, hands on his knees. The other boys looked equally as exhausted, the sun and the workout having taken it’s toll on them all.

Kuroo’s eyes met yours. You didn’t avert your gaze, staring at him. He straightened up, waving off the other guys, before jogging to you. He grinned, kneeling in front of you.

“Want to go get lunch, babe? The food stands around here are super good.” he asked.

You hummed, pretending to be in thought, before shaking your head.

“Nope. I’m working on my tan.”

“From under an umbrella?”

“It’s a super light tan.”

Kuroo’s eyes narrowed playfully. You offered an innocent smile, knowing full-well he’d see right through it. He grabbed you, throwing you over his shoulder. You squeaked in surprise. His hand rested on your ass as he strolled toward the water. Immediately realizing what he was doing, you started hitting his back.

“Tetsurou, put me down right now!” you squealed.

“Hm? Can’t hear you from back there. Hope you’re enjoying the view, though~”

Your face burned. You wanted to punch his stupid face, which was probably wearing that smug smirk of his.

“Kuroo Tetsurou, I swear—”

His feet were now splashing in the water. Once he was far enough in, he grabbed your legs and had you falling into his arms bridal-style. You attempted to push against his chest to escape. He was stronger, already mid-swing, before his arms were gone and you were flying into the water.

You swam back up to the surface, coughing. You swiped the salt-water from your eyes and opened them to glare at the, of course, smirking Kuroo. He stood with the water up to his knees, arms crossed over his chest.

“You’re so annoying,” you grumbled, swatting water at him.

Kuroo laughed. He went to you, one arm wrapping around you. Annoyingly, he was still standing in the water while you kicked your legs to support yourself. His arm pulled you against him, supporting you so you didn’t have to swim. His other hand grabbed your left ones, fingers entwining with your own and holding it above the water. Something hard rested between your palms, making you raise a brow.

“What—”

Kuroo’s lips captured yours. He squeezed your hand. You hesitated for a moment, but kissed back nonetheless. His lips were salty, slightly chapped, but still lips that fit perfectly with yours. You wrapped your free arm around his neck, letting the kiss linger for a moment, before pulling away.

He rested his forehead on yours and shut his eyes. He took a deep breath, then opened them again. You almost flinched from the intensity of them, heart pounding in your chest.

“(Y/n),” he spoke finally, “I love you more than anything in the world. I want you, always, for the rest of my life. I can’t imagine doing life without you, not that I’m expecting you to go anywhere. . . but. . . I want to give you everything. I want to share everything that’s mine. I want it to be yours. I want you to be mine for the rest of our lives, and me to be yours.”

Tears welled in your eyes. He didn’t falter, the smile on his face more genuine than anything you’d ever seen.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I want you to take my last name and be Kuroo (Y/n). Marry me?”

Kuroo opened your palms to reveal the most beautiful engagement ring that you’d ever seen in your life. Your bottom lip wobbled, heart pounding in your chest. You nodded your head, giggling while choking back sobs.

“Y-Yes, Tetsurou. . . I will, of course I will!”

Kuroo let out his anxious sigh. He grinned, turning to slip the ring onto your finger. You held it up, careful to make sure the water didn’t reach it. Kuroo’s arms wrapped tightly around you. Tears from happiness were streaming down your face, and his own eyes were glassy with tears that he didn’t hurry to blink away. You cupped his cheeks, pressing your lips to his. He immediately pushed back.

You broke away at the sound of cheering and clapping. You turned to the small crowd of your friends standing not too far away. Bokuto was grinning and bouncing around, yelling “FINALLY”. Hinata was crying into Kenma’s shoulder while Kenma held a camera up to capture the whole moment, but even he was smiling. Akaashi was attempting to calm down his husband along with Sakusa. Atsumu was just as hyper as Bokuto.

You giggled, hiding your face against Kuroo’s shoulder. He chuckled, grabbing your hand once again and leaving the water with you.

You stared at your ring, which gleamed between yours and Kuroo’s entwined fingers. He was your fiancé, your future husband. Your life partner, soulmate.

“Good job, man!” Atsumu slapped Kuroo on the back. “We thought ya was never going t’ propose to ‘er.”

Bokuto nudged you with his elbow, smirking. “He’s had that ring for weeks now.”

Kuroo practically drop-kicked Bokuto across the beach. You laughed, watching him chase the white-haired man while yelling about not needing to give you all the details.

The next few months were more than stressful, but thankfully your friends made it easier for you. They helped you every step of the way. Akaashi and Aki did most of the wedding planning so not to push too-much onto you, along with helping you pick out the perfect dress. Kenma, Bokuto, and some of Kuroo’s family were helpful in picking a venue. His grandmother was dead-set on you both getting married in a giant venue with tons of people to witness. Fortunately, Kuroo was like you in preferring a smaller venue with just the closest people attending. You were both content with a small temple on the outskirts of Tokyo.

The week before your wedding was the most stressful of it all. Kuroo, still busy with work, pulled extra hours so he could take the extra time off for your honeymoon. You barely saw him, save for the late hours in the night when he’d crawl into bed beside you. You’d whisper a quiet, “I love you”, which he returned just as softly with a, “I love you more”.

Finally, the day of your wedding came. You stood in front of a mirror, staring at your reflection as Aki, your mother, and Kuroo’s grandmother got you ready. Your hands trembled, clutching onto the skirt of your dress like a vice.

“I can’t believe I’m about to get married,” you mumbled to yourself in shock. “To Kuroo Tetsurou.”

It was surreal and this whole thing felt almost like a dream. Perhaps your life up to this point was really just you in a coma back in high school and dreaming of this life.

Aki pinched your upper arm to confirm that this was, in fact, not the case.

“Ouch!” you yelped.

“Careful! We don’t want her to bruise!” your mother hissed.

Aki grabbed your cheeks, making you look her in the eyes. She looked dead serious. So serious, even that she ignored Kuroo’s poor grandmother who’d just applied blush to your cheeks.

“You got this, (Y/n). Kuroo is going to be waiting there for his damn soulmate to come marry him.”

She’d been calling Kuroo your soulmate since you’d told her about your crush on him. That was back in high school, first-year, probably. At the time, it was a joke. Mostly, it was her way of hyping you up to getting closer with him.

Little did she know that you’d be marrying this man years later.

You took a deep breath, nodding your head. She released your cheeks and continued to work on your hair. Kuroo’s grandmother fixed your makeup where it had rubbed, and soon, you were finished.

A few knocks on the door signaled that the time had come.

Your heart pounded. Luckily, Aki held your hand until it was time for your father to take your arm. You shut your eyes, squeezing his arm. You opened your eyes as the music started. The doors opened, and your father guided you inside.

Your eyes fell upon Kuroo, who was already staring. He looked unbelievably handsome, like he could be the god of this temple. His suit was white with a red undershirt, and for the first time ever his hair was gelled back, save for the single black strand falling in front of his right eye. You wondered for a brief moment if this was really the man you were about to marry; god in the flesh. Your heart hammered and your eyes stung with tears. He was obviously holding back tears, ever the stubborn man was Kuroo. As if he’d ever cry in front of so many people.

Your father released you. You made the rest of the way to your husband, giving the flowers to Aki, your maid of honor. Kuroo took your hands, golden eyes burning into your own. You reached up to save a tear just as it slipped down his cheek, giggling a bit. Kuroo smiled.

This was the most perfect day of your life.

The ceremony was beautiful, peaceful, even. Kuroo Tetsurou was the only man in the world you’d be able to share this moment with, and now he was your husband.

You held his hand as the two of you walked down the isle together, grinning widely. It wasn’t until the doors were shut behind you that your husband let his tears loose. He hugged you tightly, pressed up tightly against his chest while he choked out a laugh.

“Holy shit,” he muttered.

You hugged his shoulders, squeezing the back of his suit in your fists. He buried his face against your shoulder. He shook slightly, clinging to his new wife with a fast beating heart.

“I love you so much. Fuck, I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you,” he laughed.

You giggled, pressing frantic kisses to his neck and jaw, where you could reach.

“I love you too, Tetsurou. So, so much!”

Kuroo didn’t let you go through the whole reception, staying plastered to you. Of course, you weren’t planning on letting go of him either. You squeezed his hand when his sister and mother approached, sharing the tension with him as his partner. He did the same for you with every happy or sad moment through the rest of the reception.

You giggled, now watching Bokuto yank Akaashi into a dance. You were seated with Kuroo beside you. Your husband was talking to his grandfather when you felt two nimble taps on your shoulder.

Kenma stood beside you, hand outstretched for you to take.

“Care if I steal a dance from the bride?” he smiled a bit.

You smiled, taking his hand. You slipped out from beneath Kuroo’s arm, quickly catching his attention.

“Oi, Kenma, stealing my wife?” Kuroo teased.

“Yes, that was definitely my plan.” Kenma rolled his eyes, then hurriedly tugged you out to the dancefloor.

You danced the rest of the night; sometimes with guests but mostly with your new husband. It wasn’t until the late hours of the night, after the reception had ended, that you bid farewell to all your friends and family and headed out with Kuroo to the car.

You were exhausted, resting your head on the window while he drove. One hand was holding yours while the other held the steering wheel. You looked at him. He focused ahead, probably thinking you’d fallen asleep. You admired his handsome face. He still glowed with happiness. The warmth of his hand in yours made your eyelids heavy.

“I love you, Tetsurou,” you murmured.

Kuroo glanced at you. He smiled.

“I love you too, pretty girl.”

The nickname made your heart flutter. You had a whole lifetime to share with Tetsurou, but even that didn’t feel like enough time.

The honeymoon location was a private one at the southern end of Japan, courtesy of Kuroo’s grandparents where they owned a beach house. It wasn’t large, but it was the most beautiful place you’d ever been in. The closest neighbors were a mile away, and you had a small, private beach all to yourselves.

You scurried around the house, checking out all the rooms with a wide grin. Sunlight filtered through the wooden blinds in each room, giving the entire space a soft glow.

“Wow! Tetsurou, c’mere! Hurry!” you called, reaching the bedroom.

It was large. The walls were wood and the floor was a soft white carpet. The king size bed in the center would be more than enough room for you and your husband. Attached to it was a master bathroom, with a jacuzzi tub you’d probably be spending way too much time in. Off the side of the bedroom was a balcony overlooking the beach and ocean. You leaned on the wooden railing, taking in a deep breath.

Your husband joined you soon enough, taking in the view.

“Real pretty,” he murmured, arms wrapping around you, “not as pretty as my wife, though.”

Your cheeks flushed instantly. You turned away from him, covering the lower half of your face with your hand. His arms tightened around you to lean down and press a kiss to your shoulder.

“How about we put this bed to good use, hm, Mrs. Kuroo.”

You didn’t have time to answer before he was lifting you and dragging you back toward the bed. You laughed and squirmed in his arms, but made no real effort in escaping. The sheets of the bed were soft, but not as soft as Kuroo’s touch as he undressed you.

Hours later, just as the sun was setting and sending a soft orange glow through the window, you were resting on your husband’s bare chest. You ran your fingers gently through his tangled hair, staring at him with all the love in the world. He stared back, practically glowing. His fingers trailed up and down the length of your spine, other arm resting behind his head.

You pressed the softest kiss into his chest, right where his heart rested. You were quiet, just savoring the presence of your partner. Kuroo was equally as content with admiring you in silence.

“Are you hungry?” you murmured, finally breaking the peace when you’d realized how late it’d gotten.

Kuroo hummed in thought. “I’m always hungry.”

You snickered and shook your head. You moved to get up, but Kuroo was quick to yank you back down on top of him. His legs tangled with yours to limit your escape further. You giggled.

“I’m not hungry enough for you to leave,” he mumbled, nuzzling his nose into your cheek.

Kuroo’s chest rumbled, almost like the purr of a cat. You settled against him, continuing to play with his hair. He leaned forward to taste your swollen lips. Electricity shot through you every time, as if it was your first kiss with him all over again. His lips molded to yours perfectly, like a puzzle. You tangled your fingers in his hair, tugging slightly as if to pull his lips closer to yours.

Tetsurou’s tongue trailed over your bottom lip. You were quick to make room for him so he could taste you. He rolled you over, pinning you beneath him. Your back was pressed into the mattress while he trailed kisses down the expanse of your already marked-up neck. You hooked a leg around his bare waist, letting out a soft breath.

“I swear,” he mumbled, “forever will never be enough time with you.”

Your heart swelled. He tilted his head up to stare at your face. Tears had sprung to your eyes. A soft smile formed on his lips. He kissed away the tears.

“I can’t believe I get to spend my life with you,” you whispered, “I’ve loved you since we were first-years in high school.”

Your confession was something you’d never shared with him. The time you’d loved him was something he was still unaware of. Now that the words had been said, he stopped in his tracks and stared at your face in silent shock. You cupped his cheek to trail the pad of your thumb over his flushed cheekbone.

Kuroo chuckled. It started off as a quiet rumble and built up into a soft laugh. He rolled over onto his back, arms outstretched. You moved on top of him, taking your place on his chest once again. Your husband stared at you lovingly.

“Funny,” he grinned, “I’ve loved you since you made eye-contact during our first-year.”

Life was funny.

And Tetsurou was right.

_Forever really wouldn’t be enough time._

_fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand~ this work is finally completed. It’s been a short ride, but I’ve loved every step of the way. Thank you guys for sticking around and continuing to read. This piece started off as a one-shot deal and turned into a whole story. Dunno how that happened but here we are. Special thanks to Kuroo for being the ultimate comfort character~
> 
> I tried to center this chapter around the reader and Kuroo’s domestic life to show just how in love they are. I also might have projected my ships onto this story with BokuAka and KenHina, but I have no regrets. I’m so happy with his last chapter so I hope you guys are too. I wanted to end this story with a happy marriage and two people who are so in love with each other that a lifetime isn’t enough time for them. 
> 
> Hopefully you guys enjoy this, please check out some of my other works! I plan on writing more Kuroo in the future. Expect some headcanons and one-shots coming up! Also in the process of an Atsumu Miya x deaf!reader fic! Thank you all for sticking by me. Have a blessed rest of your year. Stay safe and healthy! Social distance, but also please remember to enjoy the last of 2020 😊 – Author-chan

**Author's Note:**

> <<<>>>


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